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Maps, platas, charts, ate. may ba filmad at diff arant raduction ratios. Thosa too larga to ba antiraly includad in ona axposura ara filmad baginning in tha uppar laft hand cornar. laft to right and top to bottom, as many framas as raquirad. Tha following diagrams illustrata tha foathod: Las cartas, planchas. tablaaux. ate. pauvant Atre filmts t das taux da reduction diff Grants. Lorsqua la documant ast trop grand pour Atra raproduit an un saul clichi. il ast film* A partir da I'angla supAriaur gaucha. da gaucha A droite. at da haut an bas. an pranant la nombra d'imagas ntesssaira. Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mAthoda. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 MICROCOPY RBOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 I.I 1.25 illB ■ 14.5 150 Hi, _ IIP _ T 14.0 2.5 1.4 2.2 1 2.0 m 1.6 A APPLIED IN/HGE Inc 1653 East Main Street Roctiester. New York 14609 USA (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5969 - Fox THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO MACMILLAN AND CO., L.m.ted LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO THF, NLACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA. Ltd. TORONTO t f UEADS OK EICHT ...ONS SHOT BV IHK AUTHOR IN BRITISH EAST AKR.CA, ^ THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO AND Other East African Adventures IIY LiEi'T.-CoL. J. H. PATTERSON, D.S. WITH A KOkKWOkl) U\ KKEDKRICK COUKTKNKV SFJ^OUS o A^'/7W ILLUSTNATIONS rokONTo THK MACMII.I.AN CO OF CAN.AIM # I PREFACE It is with feelings of the greatest diffidence tftat 1 place the following pages before the public • but those of my friends who happen to have heard of my rather unique experiences in the wilds have so often urged me to write an account ot my adventures, that after much hesitation I at last determined to do so. I have no doubt that many of my readers, who have perhaps never been very far away from civilisation, will be inclined to think that some of the incidents are exaggerated. I can only assure them that I have toned down the facts rather than otherwise, and have endeavoured to write a perfectly plain and straightforward ac- count of things as they actually happened. It must be remembered that at the time these events occurred, the conditions prevailing in British East Africa were very different from what they are to-day. The railway, which has modern- ised the aspect of the place and brought civilisa- tion in Its train, was then only in process of VUl PREFACE construction, and the country through which it was being built was still in its primitive savage state, as indeed, away from the railway, it still is. If this simple account of two years' work and play in the wilds should prove of any interest, or help even in a small way to call attention to the beautiful and valuable country which we possess on the Equator, I shall feel more than compensated for the trouble I have taken in writing it. I am much indebted to the Hon. Mrs. Cyril Ward, Sir Guilford Molesworth, K.C.I.E., Mr. T. J. Spooner and Mr C. Rawson for their kmdness in allowing me to reproduce photographs taken by them. My warmest thanks are also due to that veteran pioneer of Africa, Mr. F. C. Selous for giving my little book so kindly an intro- duction to the public as is provided by the " Foreword " which he has been good enough to write. August, 1907. J. H. P. FOREWORD -.1 fii Ih I '"'"" "' "'^^^ y^^^^ ^SO that I fir^t read, ,n the pages of TAe Field newspaper, a br,ef account written by Col. J, H. Patterson, hen an engmeer engaged on the construction of the^Uganda Ra.lway, of the Tsavo man-eating My own long experience of African hunting 'Old me at once that every word in this thrilling narrative was absolutely true. Nay more- I knew that the author had told his story in a most modest manner, laying but little stress on the dangers he had run when sitting up at nights to try and compass the death of the terrible man-eaters, especially on that one occasion when unt 7T'^':^ u""" ' '"y ''S^' --folding mseTt tl '/ '"'" ■■"'"^ P"'-' he wfs himself stalked by one of the dread beasts ^ortunately he did not lose his nerve, and sue t '/I X FOREWORD ceeded in shooting the lion, just when it was on the point of springing upon him. But had this lion approached him from behind, I think it would probably have added Col. Patterson to its long list of victims, for in my own experience I have known of three instances of men having been pulled from trees or huts built on platforms at a greater height from the ground than the crazy structure on which Col. Patterson was watching on that night of terrors. From the time of Herodotus until to-day, lion stories innumerable have been told and written. I have put some on record myself. But no lion story I have ever heard or read equals in its long-sustained and dramatic interest the story of the Tsavo man-eaters as told by Col. Patterson. A lion story is usually a tale of adventures, often very terrible and pathetic, which occupied but a few hours of one night ; but the tale of the Tsavo man-eaters is an epic of terribi \ tragedies spread out over several months, a id only at last brought to an end by the resource and determination of one man. It was some years after I read the first ac- count published of the Tsavo man-eaters that I made the acquaintance of President Roosevelt. I told him all I remembered about it, and he was so deeply interested in the story — as he is in all true stories of the nature and character- zs3tiKt\iv '.V .1 ^-.j^m FOREWORD xi istics of wild animals— that he begged me to send him the short printed account as pubh'shed in The Field. This I did ; and it was only in the last letter I received from him that, referring to this story, President Roosevelt wrote : "I think that the incident of the Uganda man- eating lions, described in those two articles you sent me, is the most remarkable account of which we have any record. It is a great pity that it should not be preserved in permanent form." Well, I am now glad to think that it will be preserved in permanent form ; and I venture to assure Col. Patterson that President Roosevelt will be amongst the most interested readers of his book. It is probable that the chapters recounting I the story of the Tsavo man-eating lions will be found more absorbing than the other portions of Col. Patterson's book; but I think that most of his readers will agree with me that the whole volume IS full of interest and information. The account given by Col. Patterson of how he over- jcame all the difficulties which confronted him in |buildmg a strong and permanent railway bridge jacross the Tsavo river makes excellent reading • fwh.lst the courage he displayed in attacking isnigle - handed, lions, rhinoceroses and othei^ |dnngerous animals was surpassed by the pluck ia.ct and determination he showed in quelling ii. J " -JJC vy.-; •.V fJli^.^X.'' J 5w«i'^«». If xn FOREWORD the formidable mutiny which once broke oi amongst his native Indian workers. Finally, let me say that I have spent the be: part of two nights reading the proof-sheets ( Col. Patterson's book, and I can assure hii that the time passed like magic. My intere; was held from the first page to the last, for I fe that every word I read was true. F. C. SELOUS. WoRPLESDON, Surrey. September i8, 1907. ke out he best eets of re him interest r I felt •US. CONTENTS CHAPTER I fY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO CHAPTER II iE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE MAN-EATERS CHAPTER III IE ATTACK ON THE GOODS-WAGON . CHAPTER IV IE BUILDING OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE . CHAPTER V^ fOUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN CHAPTER VI W '**^'GN <^f TERROR CHAPTER VII E DISTRICT OFFICER'S NARROW ESCAPE CHAPTER VIII DEATH OF THE FIRST MAN-EATER . PAGE I 20 29 41 50 61 75 84 f^W^^ xiv CONTENTS CHAPTER IX rAC.I THE DEATH OK THE SECOND MAN-EATER ...,,.. 9f CHAPTER X THE COMPLETION OK THE TSAVO BRIDGE lof CHAPTER XI THE SWAHILI AND OTHER NATIVE TRIBES lie CHAPTER XII A NIGHT AKTER HIPPO I3; CHAPTER XI I i A DAY ON THE N'DUNGU ESCARPMENT 141 CHAPTER XIV THE FINDING OF THE MAN-EATERS' DEN 1 51 CHAPTER XV UNSUCCESSFUL RHINO HUNTS . . l6{ CHAPTER XVI A widow's STORY , . . Iji CHAPTER XVII AN INFURIATED RHINO 182 CHAPTER XVIIi LIONS ON THE ATHI PLAINS IQj CHAPTER XIX THE STRICKEN CARAVAN . . 2IC ( CONTENTS XV ^„ _ CHAPTER XX 95 Ha day on thk athi river '*'^* CHAI'TER XXI I08 ^THE MASAI AND OTHKR TRIBES 2 71 CHAPTER XXU 119 ■how roshan khan saved my life 247 CHAPTER XXIII 133 HA SUCCESSFUL LION HUNT . CHAPTER XXIV '45 t^BHOOTA'S LAST oH/KAK ^ CHAPTER XXV 155 JJA MAN-EATER IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE 286 CHAPTER XXVI 168 aWORK AT NAIROBI . . • • • • 293 CHAPTER XXVII 176 ^HE FINDING OF THE NEW ELAND . . ,^ lPPENDIX 182 a •'•'==-. 323 193 210 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ireads of eight Lions shot by the Author in British East Africa Frontispiece Mombasa, from the Harbour The Native Quarter, Mombasa "Well-wooded hills and slopes of the mainland" Vas "^ da Gama Street and Pillar " oest way to get there . . . was byjfviflrr?" •' I vched my tent under some shady palms " "Jesus Fort" . • • " Kilindini is .... on the opposite SKi e island" . . " The Place of Deep Waters " "A lucky shot brought down the huge bird" " I slept that night in a little palm hut " " This interminable nyika " " The river crossed by means of a temporary bridge " . . Women of Uganda The Tent from which jemadar Ungan Singh was carried off " My own tent was pitched in an open clearing " 29 " We shared a hut of palm leaves and boughs " 30 " The camps of the workmen had also been surrounded by thorn fences " " Railhead Camp, with its two or three thousand workmen " " The two wounded coolies were left where they lav, a piece of torn tent having fallen over them " 35 "A luncheon served in the wilds, with occasionally a friend to share it " If 7 9 10 1 1 14 •5 n 18 '9 23 3' 33 43 XVIIl LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS , ( " It very soon became a i^reat pet " "Hccra Sinjjh made a wild spririKimo thr water to yet clear of the falling stone " " The door which was to admit the lion "......' " When the trap was ready, I pitched a tent over it " ' " " They found him stuck fast in the bushes of the do,»,i " " I'erchcd on the top of water-tanks " . . . . " I took up my position in a crib made of sleepers" Whitehead on a Trolley at the exact spot where the Lion jumped upon him Abdullah and his two Wives ...... o? A party of Wa Jamousi „ "His length from tip of nose to tip of "tail was nine feei ^ eight inches " Head of the first Man-Eater ^^ "The following evening I took up my position in this ".ame ^^ tree " " He measured nine feet six inches fron cip of nose to iip of '°° tail, and stood three feet eleven and a half incncs hi^h " 103 ^^ The bridge over the Tsavo rapidly neared completion " . . ,08 The heavy stones were swung into position " ,09 " The girder was run over its exact place " ....... ,,0 " And finally lowered gently into position " , , , "Very soon I had the satisfaction of seeing the first train cross the finished work " The completed Tsavo Bridge , One of the Trolley Lines after the Flood ,,. Swahili Caravan Porters ''The old caravan road which crossed the Ts.ivo at ii ford " 121 " Such was my cook, Mabruki ■' ,2, '' The women . . . wear a long, brightly-coloured cloth " .23 The women attire themselves only in a short kilt " . ,25 '' We arrived at M'C.ogo's capital" ' ,4 " Making /r^w/^^ in the hollowcd-out stump of a tree " 127 WaTaita Men ■ ■ . 1^/ M'Kamba Woman , ^^ "Until it joins the Athi River" . . . . m6 "The banks of the Sabaki arciined witn trees" ,38 ,i i'^ •_■«:. v'.tJ7Jt,iJC»\.-w»ii3C.'. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 46 47 62 64 70 72, 77 79 80 83 92 93 ICX) '03 108 109 no II I XIX fAfiir 146 " I caught sight of a fine uatcrbuck and successfully l«.wled nim over .... / « "A young one was lying down quite close to me" ,^, A Crocodile on the Sabaki ^' " Hcyond all doubt, the man-eaters' den : " Ill '' Watch the animals come doun to drink " . ^ " The antelope swinging by his feet " Hippo Head • '^5 "Slaves chained neck to neck as wasthe custom'- \Z I Hosp.ta Tent at Voi where Mrs O'Hara rested " " ' ' [It I In the Bazaar at Kampal V . , • . • I7» ;"Thegreat Athi F'lains" ....'" '?' I ''First the earth surface has to be prepared'' j Cuttmgs have to be made and h.,ii„ws banked up" ' " I Another gang drops the rails in their places" ' ,«, It never moved again" ' 82 184 185 J" The trophy was well worth the - ■...'- '9^ it to my collection "... Jackson's Hartebeeste and Zebra '^' ipWaterbuck .... ^ VVe managed to brmg them in triumph to the ramp" I ^IT""' '"""*^' '^^ " '^^ ^''°'' -•'■'^'^ ""vned the I antelope over stone-dead " fVart-hog .... ' ' -'« I A successful snapshot of an impala just after it had been '" Masai Chief ......'.".'"' '^^ laiai Warriors -3- asai Woman -^^ asai Girls \ • . . 234 asai Women • -35 In' derobbo Boy . . -2>7 'derobbo Boy, with .' ,Ilab is Monkey ' • • ■ • -39 194 '95 201 214 'derobbo C.irl .... ' •• . • . . . 2^0 'a Kikuyu ... 241 a Wikuyu ... - • ,^^ The women of the Wa Kikuyu carrv th. i;.;.„; ,:„.. ;, ' '^^^ -45 V'a Kikuyu carry the heavy loads" ;»....• .j»«ia(f * r.i«a»ej*'».nESiaLAi.' *;j t'.'K:.: ;- Tu^av .'^t.' t*.i / XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE "Spooner'splucky servant, Imam Din" 281 A Collection of Trophies 285 " He was kept on view for several days, and then shot " . 291 Impala ^92 " I took a photograph of him standing beside his fine trophy ' 295 " Succeeded in finishing him off without further trouble " . 297 Steamer unloading at Kisumu, on Lake Victoria Nyanza . . 299 The Grand Falls, Tana River 3oo Shimone " The Place of Falling Water " (Eldama Ravine) 301 Oryx 302 Roan Antelope 303 " An excellent, cheery fellow .... named Landaalu "... 304 Crossing a Stream on the Cook's Box 305 Crossing the Angarua River 307 Reedbuck 309 TheNewEVdnd— T. oryx pa//ersomanus 3^7 Thomson's Gazelle 32i War Canoe on Lake Victoria Nyanza, near the Ripon Falls 325 Preparing Breakfast in Camp 326 View in the Kenya Province 33' "A flying visit in a rickshaw to Kampala'^ 33^ " Clad in long flowing cotton garments " 333 Jinja 334 " Rushing over the Ripon Falls " 33: " The mighty river stretching away 10 the north amid enchanting scenery " 337 Wa Kikuyu Warriors 34^ Map of British East Africa 347 Facsimile of address presented to the autlioi on his departure from East Africa in 1899 348 35' 11': 28 1 28s 291 292 295 297 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 307 309 317 321 325 326 331 332 333 334 335 ; THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO I CHAPTER I 1 MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO It was towards noon on March i, i8g8, that I ^ first found mvself entering- the narrow and some- \ what dani^erous harbour of Mombasa, on the east I coast of Africa. The town Hes on an island of the same name, separated from the mainland only by a very narrow channel, which forms the harbour ; [and as our v'essel steamed slowly in, close under the quaint old Portuguese fortress built over three hundred years uljo, I was much struck iw ith the St rani2e beautv >f the view wPiich 2 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. cjradually opened out before me. Contrary to my anticipation, everything looked fresh and green, and an oriental glamour of enchantment seemed to hantr over the island. The old THE NATIVE QUARTER, MOMBASA. town was bathed in brilliant sunshine and re- flected itself lazily on the motionless sea ; its flat roofs and dazzlingly white walls peeped out dreamily between waving palms and lofty cocoa- nuts, huge baobabs and spreading mango trees ; and the darker background of well-wooded hills and slopes on the mainland formed a very effective [ MY ARRIV^AL AT TSAVO 3 I setting to a beautiful and, to me, unexijccted I picture. The harbour was plentifully sprinkled with Arab J dhows, in some of which, I believe, even at the I present day, a few slaves are occasionally smugoled I off to Persia and Arabia. It has always been a WEI.L-WOODED HILLS AND SLOPES ON THE MAINLAND." |matter of great wonder to me how the navigators of fthese little vessels find their way from port to port, |as they do, without the aid of either compass or fsextant, and ho.v they manage to weather the ^terrible storms that at certain seasons of the year |suddenly visit eastern seas. I remember once f:omiiig across a dhow becalmed in the middle of B 2 ',X=*i- T^^TSnTTT^fW 4 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. the Indian Ocean, and its crew making signals of distress, our captain slowed down to investigate. There were four men on board, all nearly dead from thirst ; they had been without drink of any kind for several days and had completely lost their bearings. After giving them some casks of water, we directed them to Muscat (the port they wished to make), and our vessel resumed its journey, leaving them still becalmed in the midst of that glassy sea. Whether they managed to reach their destination I never knew. As '^ur steamer made its way to its anchorage, the romantic surroundings of the harbour of Mombasa conjured up visions of stirring ad- ventures of the past, and recalled to my mind the many tales of reckless doings of pirates and slavers, which as a boy it had been my delight to read. I remembered that it was at this very place that in 1498 the great Vasco da Gama nearly lost his ship and life through the treachery of his Arab pilot, who plotted to wreck the vessel on the reef which bars more than half the entrance to the harbour. Luckily, this nefarious design was dis- covered in time, and the bold navigator promptly hanged the pilot, and would also have sacked the town but for the timelv submission and aj ologies of the Siillan. In the principal street of Mombasa — ajj[)ropriately called \'asco da Gama Street — there still stands a curiouslv- shaped pillar which is said to have been erected I MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO 5 by this great seaman in commemoration of his visit. Scarcely had the anchor been dropped, when, as if by magic, our vessel was surrounded by a fleet of small boats and " dug-outs " manned by crowds of shouting and gesticulating natives. After a short ■■•v\ t:!' V' 1 4|i ^ ! VASCO DA CAM A STRKKF AND I'lLI.AR. fight between some rival Swahili boatmen for my luggage and |)crson, I found myself being vigor- ously rowed to the foot of the landing steps by the oaharccn (sailors) who had been successful in the (-ncounter. Xow, my object in coming out to East Africa at ihi^ tiine was to take up a position to which I had be L-n appointed by the Foreign Office \ > i : i 1 ' i 6 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. on the construction staff of the U_f(anda Railway. As soon as I hmded, therefore, I enquired froiTi one of the Customs oflicials where the head- quarters of the railway were to he found, and was told that they were at a place called Kilindini, "the best way to (JET THERE WAS BY i^harri. some three miles away, on the other side of the island. The best way to c^et there, I was further informed, was by gharri, which I found to be a small trolley, havin^;- two seats placed back to back under a little canopy and runnino- on narrow rails which are laid through the principal street of the town. Accordintrlv, I .secured one of these 11 ! MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO vehicles, which are pushed by two strapping SwahiH boys, and was soon Hyinti^ down the track, which once outside the town lay for the most part throui^h dense groves of mango, baobab, banana and palm trees, with here and there brill ianUy- m " I I'lTCHKD MY TENT UNDER SOME SHADV PALMS. coloured creepers hanging in luxuriant festoons from the branches. On arrival at Kilindini, I made my way to the Railway Offices and was informed that I should be stationed inland and should receive further instruc- tions in the course of a day or two. Meanwhile I pitched my tent under some shady palms near the 1 1' II m ! W '■ ' I ■xn i i %\ i ! ! ! I IHnwHn 8 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. ,^/iarn line, and busied myself in exploring the island and in procuring the stores and the outfit necessary for a lengthy sojourn up-country. The town of Mombasa itself naturally occupied most of my attention. It is supposed to have been founded about a.d. iooo. but the discovery of ancient Egyptian idols, and of coins of the early Persian and Chinese dynasties, goes to show that It must at different ages have been settled by people of the very earliest civilisations. Coming to more modern times, it was held onandoff fron^ 1505 to 1729 by the Portuguese, a permanent memorial of whose occupation remains in the shape of the grim old fortress, built about 1593— on the site, it is believed, of a still older stronghold. These enterprising sea-rovers piously nanied it "Jesus Fort," and an inscription recording this is still to be seen over the main entrance, the Portuguese occupation of Mombasa was, however, not without its vicissitudes. From March 15, 1696, for ex- ample, the town was besieged for thirty-three con- secutive months by a large fleet of Arab dhows, which completely surrounded the island. In spite of plague, treachery and famine, the little garrison held out valiantly in Jesus Fort, to which they had be^Mi forced to retire, until December 12, 1698. w .en the Arabs made a last determined attack and captured the citadel, putting the remnant of the I defenders, both men and women, to the sword. It IS pathetic to read that c^nly two days later a large if 1 MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO 9 Portuguese fleet appeared off the harbour, bringing the long-lookecl-for reinforcements. After this the Portuguese made several attempts to reconquer Mombasa, but were unsuccessful until 1728, when the town was stormed and captured by General ^^^«-' •^ jjl^^v: '. ," > "i-**- — ^ Cy-. •■ '. nlSB^ _, " "jKSrS KORT." Sampayo. The Arabs, however, returned the next year in overwhelming numbers, and again drove the Portuguese out; and although 'the latter made one more attempt in 1769 to regam their ■ost supremacy, they did not succeed. The Arabs, as represented by the Sultan of PI ■■'\ ii 14 i 10 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. Zanzil);ir, remain in nominal possession of Mom- basa to the present day; but in 18S7 Se\ id Bargash. the then Sultan of Zanzibar, j^^ave for an annual rental a concession of his mainland terri- tories to the British Hast Africa Association, which in 1888 was formed into the Imperial British East Africa Company. In 1 895 the Foreign Office took KILINDINI IS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE ISLAND. over control of the Company's possessions, and a Protectorate was proclaimed ; and ten years later the administration of the country was transferred to the Colonial Office. The last serious fi^^hting on the island took place so recently as 1895-6, when a Swahili chief named ^v^*^^'mii^:^i&9^§mssmaBS^''sgM . f] ^1 ir ! I i i % I I I 12 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. forwardinjr trade with the interior and has several excellent stores where almost anything, from a needle to an anchor, may readily be obtained. Kihndini is, as I have said, on the opposite side of the island, and as its name—" the place of deep waters "—implies, has a much finer harbour than that possessed by Mombasa. The chaimel between the island and the mainland is here capable of giving commodious and safe anchorage to the very largest vessels, and as the jetty is directly connected with the Uganda Railway, Kilindini has now really become the principal port, being always used by the liners and heavier vessels. I had spent nearly a week in Mombasa, and was becoming very anxious to get my marching orders, when one morning I was delighted to receive an official letter instructing me to proceed to Tsavo. abuat one hundred and thirty-two miles from the coast, and to take charge of the construction of the section of the line at that place, which had just then been reached by railhead. I accordingly started at daylight next morning in a special train with Mr. Anderson, the Superintendent of Works, and Dr. McCulloch, the principal Medical Officer; and as the country was in every way new to me, I found the journey a most interesting one. The island of Moml)asa is separated from the mainland by the Strait of Macupa, and the railway crosses this by a bridge about three-quarters of a mile long, called the Salisbury Bridge, in honour of 'i W I III" I II III 1 1 [■■II 111 lliMim li ly il^il MMiiliMlHIWIHII IIMillll III : MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO »3 the great Minister for Foreign Affairs under whose direction the Uganda Railway scheme was un'.''jr- taken. For twenty miles after reaching the main- land, our train wound steadily upwards through beautifully wooded, park-like country, and on looking back out of the carriage windows we could every now and again obtain' lovely views of Mombasa and Kilindini, while beyond these the Indian Ocean sparkled in the glorious sunshine as far as the eye could see. The summit of the Rabai Hills having been reached, we entered on the expanse of the Taru Desert, a wilderness covered with poor scrub and stunted trees, and carpeted in the dry season with a layer of fine red dust. This dust is of a most penetrating character, and finds its way into everything in the carriage as the train passes along. From here onward game is more or less plentiful, but the animals are very difficult to see owing to the thick undergrowth in which they hide themselves. We managed, however, to catch sight of a few from the carriage windows, and also noticed some of the natives, the Wa Nyika, or 'children of the wilderness." At iMaungu, some eighty miles from the coast, we came to the end of this "desert," but almost the only difference to be noticed in the character of the country was that the colour of the dust had changed. As our train sped onwards through the i('vel upla- ! we saw a fine osirich striding' along parallel with the line, as if having a race with us. i f-vi'iiPFWBWifiyy^yflafffr'iiawtfirw - '¥* ^^osis^^ssspsb 1 ii*^ n ! ! '• , 1 ) e 1 I f 1 M ; 1- I 1 1 i ¥ \ i 14 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. Dr. McCulIoch at once seized his rifle and by a lucky shot brought down the huoe bird ; the next and greater difficulty, however, was to secure the prize. For a time the engin-- :!; ivcr took no notice of our signals and shout . bur at last we 'MiCion, arid succeeded in attracting his at. Lh( "A LUCKY SHOT BROUGHT DOWN THE HUGE BIRD.' train was shunted back to where the ostrich had fallen. We found it to be an exceptionally fine specimen, and had to exert all our strength to drag it on board the train. Soon after this we reached Voi, about a hundred miles from the coast, and as this was the most mm^mt^£t:s^M^'^Km-^^^^:;m^^^^ai^^i^. MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO 15 important station on ^he line that we had yet come to, we made a short ualt in order to inspect some construction work which was going on. On re- suming our journey, we soon discovered that a pleasant change had occi red in the character of the landscape. From a place called N'dii, the m •'I'f 'I SLEPT THAT NIGHT IN A LITTLE PALM HUT, railway runs for some miles through a beautifully wooded country, which looked all the more invit- ing after the deadly monotony of the wilderness through which we had just passed. To the south of us could be seen the N'dii range of mountpiins, the dwelling-place of the Wa Taita people, while li i 1, m H|| t:f' :,^. ..-.'-'>. 4Bl..;'l_>'SLi \- ' vBa'WHtvisins^:vj^mfSdmsi& 3 m-i^A 'Il i i ii i6 'm^^^m^ THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. on our right rose the ricrid brow of the N'dungu Escarpment, which stret hes away westwards for scores of miles. Here our journey was slow, as every now and again we stopped to inspect the permanent works in progress; but eventually, towards dusk, we arrived at our destination, Tsavo! I slept that night in a little palm hut which had been built by some previous traveller, and which was fortunately unoccupied for the time being. It was rather broken-down and dilapidated, not even possessing a door, and as I lay on my narrow camp bed I could see the stars twinkling through the roof. I little knew then what adventures awaited me in this neighbourhood ; and if I had realised that at that very time two savage brutes were prowling round, seeking whom they might devour, I hardly think I should have slept "^so peacefully in my rickety shelter. Next morning I was up betimes, eager to make acquaintance with my new surroundings. My first impression on coming out of my hut was that I was hemmed in on all sides by a dense growth of im- penetrable jungle : and on scrambling to the top of a little hill close at hand, I found that the whole country a^ far as I could see was covered with low, stunted trees, thick undergrowth and " wait-a-bit " thorns. The only clearing, indeed, appeared to be where the narrow track for the railway had been cut. This interminable nyika, or wilderness of Wiiitisn and leailess dwarf trees, presented w msm^^^ii^m^^mmsmmms^m^mms^mm^^^mm^m JiS^'^ ^5ClL I MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO 17 ghastly and sun-stricken appearance; and here and there a ridge of dark-red heat-blistered rock jutted out above the jungle, and added by its rugged barrenness to the dreariness of the picture. Away to the north-east stretched the unbroken line of the N'dungu Escarpment, while far off to the south I could just catch a glimpse of the snow-capped top of towering Kilima Njaro. THIS inti:rminabi.e >/ji/(.-a. The one redeeming feature of the neighbourhood was the river from which Tsavo takes its name. This is a swiftly-flowing stream, always cool and always running, the latter being an exceptional attribute in this part of East Africa; and the tringe of lofty green trees along its banks formed ■ i welcome relief to the general monotony of the landscape. ap i8 THE IV. ;N-EATERS of TSAVO chap. When I had thus obtained a rouj^h idea of the neighbourhood, I returned to my hut, and began in earnest to make preparations for my stay in this out-of-the-way place. The stores were un- packed, and my " boys " pitched my tent in a Httle clearing close to where I had slept the night ?>-.? ■* ^€t-^ 15?*? ■'■'^" «*^- ^^•-- ..,^«s." THE RIVER CROSSED BY MEANS OF A Tii.MPORARY BRIDGE." before and not far from the main camp of the workmen. Railhead had at this time just reached the western side of the river, and some thousands of Indian coolies and other workmen were en- camped there. As the line had to be pushed on with all speed, a diversion had been made and the river err sed by means of a temporary bridge. If 9 ■.-.V'.fr^XA'' ■ ^ / ■^■;<:.«i^;:v^;:' I MY ARRIVAL AT TSAVO 19, My principal work was to erect the permanent structure, and to complete all the other works for a distance of thirty miles on each side of Tsavo. I accordingly made a survey of what had to be done, and sent my requisition for labour, tool*^ and material to the head-quarters at Kilindini. In a short time workmen and supplies came pourino- in, and the noise of hammers and sledges, drillino- and blastincr, echoed merrily through the district. 1 ^:0 f f: il'll r 'I'- L u > :' i 111 SI I 1.1 WOMEN OF UGANDA. S' II <■ . I ' M i M^~7W' t^.J^r^ (^m^:kJ^^ ' i r ••i> lit ! CHAPTER II THE FIRST APPEARANCE OF THE MAN-EATERS Unfortunately this happy state of affairs did not continue for long, and our work was soon interrupted in a rude and startling manner. Two most voracious and insatiable man-eating lions appeared upon the scene, and for over nine months waged an intermittent warfare against the railway and all those connected with it in the vicinity of Tsavo. This culminated in a perfect reign of terror in December, 1890, when they actually succeeded in bringing the railway works to a complete standstill for about three weeks. At first they were not always successful in their efforts to carry off a victim, but as time went on they stopped at nothing and indeed braved any danger in order to obtain their favourite food. Their methods then became so uncanny, and their man-stalkini^ so well-timed and so certain of success, that the workmen firmly believed that CH. II APPEARANCE OF THE MAN-EATERS 21 they were not real animals at all, but devils in lions' shape. Many a time the a^olies solemnly assured me that it was absolutely useless to attempt to shoot them. They were quite con- vinced that the angry spirits of two departed native chiefs had taken this form in order to protest against a railway being made through their country, and by stopping its progress to avenge the insult thus shown to them. I had only been a few days at Tsavo when I first heard that these brutes had been seen in the neighbourhood. Shortly afterwards one or two coolies mysteriously disappeared, and I was told that they had been carried off by night from their tents and devoured by lions. At the time I did not credit this story, and was more inclined to believe that the unfortunate men had been the victims of foul play at the hands of some of their comrades. They were, as it happened, very good workmen, and had each saved a fair number of rupees, so I thought it quite likely that some scoundrels from the gangs had murdered them for the sake of their money. This suspicion, however, was very soon dispelled. About three weeks after my arrival, I was roused one morning about daybreak and told that one of my jemadars, a fine powerful Sikh named Ungan Singh, had been seized in his tent during the night, and dragged off and eaten. Naturally I lost no time in making an examina- ; p 22 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. tion of the place, and was soon convinced that the man had Indeed been carried off by a lion, as its "pug" marks were plainly visible in the sand, while the furrows made by the heels of the victim showed the direction in which he had been dragged away. Moreover, the jemadar shared his tent with half a dozen other workmen, and one of his bedfellows had actually witnessed the occurrence. He graphically described how, at about midnight, the lion suddenly put its head in at the open tent door and seized Ungan Singh— who happened to be nearest the opening— by the throat. The unfortunate fellow cried out ''C/ioro'' ("Let go"), and threw his arms up round the lion's neck. The next moment he was gone, and his panic-stricken companions lay helpless, forced to listen to the terrible struggle which took place outside. Poor Ungan Singh must have died hard ; but what chance had he .> As a coolie gravely remarked, " Was he not fighting with a lion } " On hearing this dreadful story I at once set out to try to track the animal, and was accompanied by Captain Haslem, who happened to be staying at Tsavo at the time, and who, poor fellowt himself met with a tragic fate very shortly after- v.-ards. We found it an easy matter to follow the route taken by the lion, as he appeared to have stopped several times before beginning his meal Pools of blood marked these halting-places, where TSi^Sifib^sVO £>s^?^ssraiPi^ga^iAJU*GR£«i«Bzxw«^%&ssa II APPEARANCE OF THE MAN-EATERS 23 he doubtless indulged in the man-enters' habit of lickinj,^ the skin off so as to jret at the fresh blood. (I have been led to believe that this is their custom from the appearance of two half-eaten bodies which I subsequently rescued : the skin was gone in places, and the flesh looked dry. as if it had been sucked.) On reaching the spot THE TENT FROM WmCH /em a, iar U.XGAN SI.NCH was carried OKK. where the body had been devoured, a dreadful spectacle presented itself. The ground all round u-as covered with blood and morsels of flesh and bones, but the unfortunate Jemadars head had been left intact, save for the holes made by the lion's tusks on seizing him, and lay a short distance away from the other remains, the eyes »■ i; I, J ' . ! m 24 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. staring wide open with a startled, horrified look in them. The place was considerably cut up. and on closer examination we found that two lions had been there and had probably struggled for possession of the body. It was the most grue- some sight I had ever seen. We collected the remains as wel. as we could and heaped stones on them, the head with its fixed, terrified stare seeming to watch us all the time, for it we did not bury, but took back to camp for identification before the Medical Officer. Thus occurred my first experience of man- eating lions, and I vowed there and then that I would spare no pains to rid the neighbourhood of the brutes. I little knew the trouble that was m store for me, or how narrow were to be my own escapes from sharing poor Ungan Singh's fate. That same night I sat up in a tree close to the late jemadars tent, hoping that the lion- would return to it for another victim. I was followed to my perch by a few of the more terrified coolies, who begged to be allowed to sit up in the tree with me ; all the other workmen remained in their tents, but no more doors were left open. I had with me my -303 and a 12-bore shot gun, one barrel loaded with ball and the other with slug. Shortly after settling down tc my vigil, my hopes of bagging one of the brutes were raised by the sound of their ominous roaring y »BV^ ■r.ST'iA.T.'IJIfJ^Bn-^^iiL II APPEARANCE OF THE MAN-EATERS 25 cominjr closer and closer. Presently this ceased, and quiet reioned for an hour or two. as hons always stalk their prey in compl^'te silence. All at once, however, we heard a jrreat uproar and frenzied cries coming from another camp about half a mile away ; we knew then that the lions had seized a victim there, and that we should see or hear nothing further of them that night. Next morning I found that one of the\rutes had broken into a tent at Railhead Camp— whence we had heard the commotion during the night- and had made off with a poor wretch who was lying there asleep. After a night's rest, therefore, I took up my position in a suitable tree near this tent. I did not at all like the idea of walking the half-mile to the place after dark, but all the same I felt fairly safe, as one of my men carried a bright lamp close behind me. He in his turn was followed by another leading a goat, which I tied under my tree m the hope that the lion might be tempted to seize it instead of a coolie. A steady drizzle commenced shortly after I had settled down to my night of watching, and I was soon thoroughly chilled and wet. I stuck to my uncomfortable post, however, hoping to get a shot, but I well remember the feeling c impotent disappointment 1 experienced when about midnight I heard screams and cries and a heartrending shriek, which told me that the man-caters had aga.n eluded me and had claimed another victim elsewhere. 26 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAF At this time the various camps for the workme. vv-ere very scattered, so that the hons had a ran^rc of some eijrht miles on either side of Tsavo tr work upon ; and as their tactics seemed to be t. hfficult to forestall them. They ahiiost appeared, too to have an extraordinary and uncanny facultv of findmg out our plans beforehand, so that no matter .n how likely or how tempting a spot we lav in wait for them, they invariably avoided that particular place and seized their victim for the night from some other camp. Hunting them bv day. moreover, in such a dense wilderness as surrounded us. was an exceedingly tiring and really foolhardy undertaking. I„ a thick jungle of the kind round Tsavo the hunted animal has every chance against the hunter, as however careful the latter may be. a dead twig or somethin, of the sort IS sure to crackle just at the criticd monient and so give the alarm. Still I never eave up hope of some day finding their lair, and accordingly continued to devote all my spare time to crawlmg about through the undergrowth Many a time when attempting to force my wav through this bewildering tangle I had to he released by my gun-bearer from the fast clutches of the " wait-a-bit "; and often with immense pains I succeeded in tracing the lions to the river, after they had seized a victim, only to lose the I t-aa Irum there onwards, owing to the rocky" !^aik/^ .^A III APPEARANCE OF THE MAN-EATERS 27 nature of the ground which they seemed to be careful to choose in retreating to their den At this early stage of the struggle, I am glad to say, the lions w^re not always successful in their efforts to capture a human being for their nightly meal, and one or two amusing incidents occurred to relieve the tension from which our nerves were beginning to suffer. On one occasion an enterprising Sunn ia/i (Indian trader) was ridin- along on his donkey late one night, when suddenly a lion sprang out on him knocking over both man and beast. The donkey was badly wounded and the lion was just about to seize the trader' when in some way or other his claws became entangled in a rope by which two empty oil tins were strung across the donkey's neck. The rattle and clatter made by these as he dragged them after him gave him such a fright that he turned tail and bolted off into the jungle, to the intense relief of the terrified d;nw/a/i, who quickly made his way up the nearest tree and remained there I shivering with fear, for the rest of the night Shortly aft^r this episode, a Greek contractor I named rhemistocles Pappadimitrini had an equally marvellous escape. He was sleeping peacefully ni his tent one night, when a lion broke in. and seized and made off with the mattress on which he was lying. Though rudelv awakened, the K.reek was quite unhurt and sui. red from nothing i ^vorse. than a bad fright. This same man. however I 'jl': 28 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO ch. i, met with a melancholy fate not lon^ afterwards He had been to the Kilima Njaro district to buy cattle, and on the return journey attempted to take a short cut across country to the railway but perished miserably of thirst on the way On another occasion fourteen coolies who slept tocrether m a larg^e tent were one night awakened by a hon suddenly jumping on to the tent and breakmg through it. The brute landed with one claw on a coolie's shoulder, which was badly torn ; but instead of seizing the man himself, in h.s hurry he grabbed a large bag of rice which happened to be lymg in the tent, and made off with It dropping it in disgust some little distance away when he realised his mistake. These, however, were only the earlier efforts of the man-eaters. Later on, as will be seen nothing flurried or frightened them in the least' and except as food they showed a complet^l contempt for human beings. Having once marked ' down a victim, they would allow nothing to deter them from securing him, whether he were protected ' roi.nH K Ti' '[ ''"''^' ^ ^^"^^^ ^^"^' «^ ^'"in., Td fi I f'l ^r"^ ^''- -'h^^^' shouting' and firebrands they alike held in derision iik .v4._.. • /■ -« [THE AUTHOR.! [MR. C. RAWSON.] 'MY OWN TENT WAS PITCHED IN AN OPEN CLEARING." CHAPTER III THE ATTACK ON THE GOODS-WAGON All this time my own tent was pitched in an open clearing, unprotected by a fence of any kind round it. One night when the medical otticer, Dr. Rose, was staying with me, we were [awakened about midnight by h-aring somethino tumblmg about among the tent rcpes, but on going out with a lantern we could discover nothing i^ayhght, however, plainly revealed the "pu-''" marks of a lion, so that on that occasion I fan^cy I ii I j! ii 30 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap, one or other of us had a narrow escape. Warned by this experience, I at once arrancred to move my quarters, and went to join forces with Dr Brock who had just arrived at Tsavo to take medical charge of the district. We shared a hut of palm leaves and boughs, which we had WE SHARED A HUT OK PALM LEAVES AND BOUGHS." constructed on the eastern side of the river, close to the old caravan route leading to Uganda ; and w had It surrounded by a circular W, or [horn and thick and high. Our personal servants also 1 ved withm the enclosure, and a bright fire wa. always kept up throughout the night. For the [li -^fUP^^^l^Rli-a [hi THE ATTACK ON THE GOODS-WAGON 31 sake of coolness, Brock and I used to sit out under the verandah of this hut in the evenings ; but it was rather trying to our nerves to attempt to read or write there, as we never knew when a hon might spring over the boma, and be on us before aware. We therefore kept our rifles we were rf-^ 'm^^im^- ^M ^mM^m^ JI^V' "THE CAMl'SOF THE WORKMEN HAD ALSO BEEN SURROUNDED BY THORN FENCES." within easy reach, and cast many an anxious .Klance cut into the inky darkness beyond the circle of the firehght. On one or two occasions, we found in the morning that the lions had come quite close to the. fence; but fortunately they never succeeded in getting through. By this time, too, the camps of the workmen W^S^ ^Mt l^SSfeCS^ w " r III .1 : 4 ■ I m m Mi' If ' i ! L : ll i • ' Mi f .'i .) 1 : I: I tl 32 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CH. Ill had also been surrounded by thorn fences- nevertheless the lions managed to jump over or to break through some one or other of these, and regularly every few nights a man was carried off, the reports of the disappearance of this or that workman coming in to me with painful frequency. So long, however, as Railhead Camp-with Its two or three thousand men scattered over a wide area-remained at Tsavo' nn^A J^^T'^^ "°' ^^ '^^^ "^"^h notice of the dreadful deaths of their comrades. Each man felt, I suppos. , that as the man-eaters had such a large number of victims to choose from the chances of their selecting him in particular were very small. But when the large camp moved ahead with the railway, matters altered consider- ably. I was then left with only some few hundred men to complete the permanent works ; and as ail the remaming workmen were naturally camped together, the attentions of the lions became more- apparent and made a deeper impression. A regular panic consequently ensued, and it required all my powers of persuasion to induce the men to stay on. In fact, I succeeded in doino- so only b^ alKnvmg them to knock off all regular work until they had bu.lt exceptionally thick and high do;;^a. round each camp. W'ithin these enclosures fire^ were kept burning all night, and it was also th,- duty of the night-watchman to keep clatterin-^ a iozen cnijjtv oil tins suspended from U' 9fhi'M/bai]t:irT- M }^ ,f^ >5». ^ r ^ ^*e-^- -ll#*- .K?^ i..;;l^ il , : i in '^^*^*^^ > ■/-■■ i I) ) It, 1 T 1 1 ., II '^''"Sk-'urmi n, '■•fl- 34 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. convenient tree. These he manipulated by means of a long rope, while sitting in safety within his tent ; and the frightful noise thus produced was kept up at frequent intervals during the night in the hopes of terrifying away the man-eaters In spite of all these precautions, however the lions would not be denied, and men continued to disappear. When the railhead workmen moved on. their hospital camp was left behind. It stood rather apart from the other camps, in a clearing about three-quarters of a mile from my hut, but was protected by a good thick fence and to all appear- ance was quite secure. It seemed, however, as if barriers were of no avail against the "demons" for before very long one of them found a weak spot in the boma and broke through. On this occasion the Hospital Assistant had a marvellous escape. Hearing a noise outside, he opened the door of his tent and was horrified to see a great lion standing a i^^ yards away looking at him The beast made a spring towards him, which gave the Assistant such a fright that he jumped back- wards, and in doing so luckily upset a bov containing medical stores. This crashed down with such a loud clatter of breaking glass that the lion was startled for the moment and made off to another part of the enclosure. Here, unfortunately, he was more successful, as he jumped on to and broke through a tent in ... THE ATTACK ON TH£ GOODS-WAGON 35 which eight patients were lying. Two of them were badly wounded by his'.spring, whi e . A.rd poor wretch was sei.ed and d ag.Il „ff bod.iy through the thorn fence. The two wounded coohes were left where they lay a pilce of torn tent having fallen over them and , THE TWO WOUNDED COOLIES WFRF I pp- «•.,,- PIECE OK TORN TENT l.^vVv, ^ \\ HERE THEY TENT HAVING FALU;N OVER THEM " LAV, A this position the doctor and 1 found them on our a,nval soon after dawn next morning. \\" .once deeded ,0 move the hospital cker ,„ I out heVT:,' '"^'' "''^ was'prepared, a rLtfr '"""'' '^' enclosure, and all t'le patients were moved in before nightfall. 1) 2 r . ; 'ti'i 36 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. As I had heard that lions generally visit recently deserted camps, I decided to sit up all night in the vacated boma in the hope of getting an opportunity of bagging one of them ; but in the middle of my lonely vigil I had the mortifica- tion of hearing shrieks and cries coming from the direction of the new hospital, telling me only too plainly that our dreaded foes had once more eluded me. Hurrying to the place at daylight I found that one of the lions had jumped over the newly erected fence and had carried off the hospital bhisti (water-carrier), and that several other coolies had been unwilling witnesses of the terrible scene which took place within the circle of light given by the big camp fire. The bhisti, it appears, had been lying on the floor, with his head towards the centre of the tent and his feet nearly touching the side. The lion managed to get its head in below the canvas, seized him by the foot and pulled him out. In desperation the unfortunate water-carrier clutched hold of a heavy box in a vain attempt to prevent himself being carried off, and dragged it with him until he was forced to let go by its being stopped by the side of the tent. He then caught hold of a tent rope, and clung tightly to it until It broke. As soon as the lion managed to get him clear of the tent, he sprang at his throat and after a few vicious shakes the poor bhisti s agonising cries were silenced for ever. The in THE ATTACK ON THE GOODS-WAGON 37 brute then seized him in his mouth, like a huge cat with a mouse, and ran up and down the boma lookmg for a weak spot to break through. This he presently found and plunged into, dragging his victim with him and leaving shreds of torn cloth and flesh as ghastly evidences of his passage through the thorns. Dr. Brock and I were easily able to follow his track, and soon found the remains about four hundred yards away m the bush. There was the usual horrible sight Very little was Jeft of the unfortunate bhisti-Zx.h the skull, the jaws, a few of the larger bones and ^^^T'^ J^^ P^^"' ^'"^ ^"^ ^'^ ^^« fingers attached On one of these was a silver ring, and this, with the teeth (a relic much prized hy certain castes), was sent to the mans widow in India. Again it was decided to move the hospital • and again before nightfall, the work was com- peted, including a still stronger and thicker ^.;..^. When the patients had been moved. I had a covered goods-wagon placed in a favourable position on a siding which ran close to the site which had just been abandoned, and in this Brock and I arranged to sit up that night. We left a couple of tents still standing within the enclosure, and also tied up a few cattle in it as bait for the iions. who had been seen in no less than three '-!'rt^erent places in the neighbourhood during the afternoon (April 23). Four miles from Tsavo r 38 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. they had attempted to seize a coolie who was walking along the line. Fortunately, however, he had just time to escape up a tree, where he remained, more dead than alive, until he was rescued by the Traffic Manager, who caught sight of him from a passing train. They next appeared close to Tsavo Station, and a couple of hours later some workmen saw one of the lions stalkmg Dr. Brock as he was returning about dusk from the hospital. In accordance with our plan, the doctor and I set out after dinner for the goods-wagon, which was about a mile away from our hut. In the light of subsequent events, we did a very foolish thing in taking up our position so late ; never- theless, we reached our destination in safety and settled down to our watch about ten o'clock VVe had the lower half of the door of the wagon closed, while the upper half was left wide open lor observation : and we faced, of course, in the direction of the abandoned Soma, which, however we were unable to see in the inky darkness.' ^or an hour or two everything was quiet, and the deadly silence was becoming very monotonous and oppressive, when suddenly, to our right, a dry twig snapped, and we knew that an animal of some sort was about. Soon afterwards we heard a dull thud, as if some heavy body had jumped over the 6oma. The cattle, too, berar very uneasy, and we could hear them ' movii Ill THE ATTACK ON THE GOODS-WAGON 39 about restlessly. Then again came dead siler.ce. At this juncture I proposed to my companion that I should get out of the wagon and lie on the ground close to it, as I could see better in that position should the lion come in our direction with his prey. Brock, however per- suaded me to remain where I was ; and a few seconds afterwards I was heartily glad that I had taken his advice, for at that very moment one of the man-eaters— although we did not know it- was quietly stalking us. and was even then almost within springing distance. Orders had been given for the entrance to the boma to be blocked up, and accordingly we were listening in the expectation of heanng the lion force his way out through the bushes with his prey. As a matter of fact however, the doorway had not been properW closed, and while we were wondering what the lion could be doing inside the boma for so lontr he was outside all the time, silently reconnoitring our position. ^ Presently I fancied I saw something comina very stealthily towards us. I feared, however to trust to my eyes, which by that time were strained by prolonged staring through the dark- ness, so under my breath I asked Brock whether he saw anything, at the same time coverino- the dark object as well as I could with my%ifle Hrock did not answer ; he told me afterwards that he, too, thought he had seen something move ^^-m^tJSltf .. ' .^ 40 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO ch. n. but was afraid to say so lest I should fire and It turn ou: to be nothing after all. After this there was intense silence again for a second or two. then with a sudden bound a huge body sprang at us. " The lion ! " I shouted, and we both fired almost simultaneously— not a moment too soon, for in another second the brute would assuredly have landed mside the wagon. As it was, he must have swerved off in his spring probably blinded by the flash and frightened by the noise of the double report which was increased a hundredfold by the reverberation of the hollow iron roof of the truci:. Had we not been very much on the alert, he would undoubt- ed'y have got one of us, and we realised that we had had a very lucky and very narrow escape The next morning we found Brock's bullet embedded in the sand close to a footprint; it could not have missed the lion by more than an mch or two. Mine was nowhere to be found Thus ended my first direct encounter with one of the man-eaters. ' i CHAPTER IV THE BUILDING OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE During all this troublesome period the con- struction of the railway had been going steadily forward and the first important piece of work I I'^ -ru ^^'""^^"^^d on arrival was com- pleted. Th.s was the widening of a rock cutting through which the railway ran just before it reached the river. In the hurry of pushing on the laying of the line, just enough of the rock had originally been cut away to allow room for an engine to pass, and consequently any material which happened to project outside the wagons or trucks caught on the jagged faces of the "cut- ting. I myself saw the door of a guard's van vvhich had been left ajar, smashed to atoms in this way ; and accordingly I put a gang of rock- ^Inllers to work at once and soon had ample room made for all traffic to pass unimpeded. \^ h.le this was going on, another gang of men were laymg the foundations of a girder bridcre Which was to span a gully between this cuttino-and j*j2^iA?f-;.-;i..-"v,'-'.-?r,.=*? :itii 42 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. Tsavo Station. This would have taken too lona to erect when railhead was at the place, so a diversion had been made round it. the temporary- track leading down almost to the bed of the nullah and up again on the further side. When the foundations and abutments were ready, the gully was spanned by an iron girder, the slopes leading up to it banked up on either side, and the permanent way laid on an easy grade. Then, also, a water supply had to be estab- lished ; and this meant some very pleasant work for me in taking levels up the banks of the river under the cool shade of the palm-. While doing this, I often took ly camp-kit with me and a luncheon served in the wilds, with occasion- ally a friend to share it— when a friend was available-was delightful. On one occasion in particular. I went a long way up the river and was accompanied by a young member of my staff. The day nad been exceedingly hot and we were both correspondingly tired when our work was hnished, so my companion suggested that we should build a raft and float down-stream home I was rather doubtful of the feasibility of the scheme, but nevertheless he decided to give it a trial. Setting to work with our axes, we soon had a raft built, lashing the poles tocrether with the fibre which grows in abundance all over the district. When it was finished, wo pushed -> out ot the little backwater where it had been IV THE BUILDING OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 43 constructed, and the young engineer jumped aboard. All went well until it got out into midstream, when much to my amusement it promptly toppled gracefully over. I helped my Iriend to scramble quickly up the bank out of [the atthor.) [mk. c. kawson.] A LUNCHEON SERVKl, IN THK WM.DS. WiTH (KTCASIONAILV A KKIENl) TO SHARE IT." reach of possible crocodiles, when, none the worse <"r hi.s ducking, he laughed as heartily as I at the adventure. Kxcept for an occasional rela.xation of this sort, every moment of my time was fully occupied ^^upenntending the various works and a hundred 1 •■m^^Mmm 44 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. other duties kept me busy all day long, while my evenmgs were given up to settling disputes among the coolies, hearing reports and complaints from the various jemadars and workpeople, and m studying the Swahili language. Preparations, too for the principal piece of work in the district —the buildmg of the railway bridge over the Tsayo river -were going on apace. These involved much personal work on my part ; cross and oblique sections of the river had to be taken the rate of the current and the volume of water at flood, mean, and low levels had to be found and all the necessary calculations made. These having at length been completed. I marked out the positions for the abutments and piers, and rile work of sinking their foundations was begun 1 he two centre piers in particular caused a great deal of trouble, as the river broke in several times, and had to be dammed up and pumped dry again before work could be resumed. Then we found we had to sink much deeper than we expected in order to reach a solid foundation, indeed, the sinking went on and on, until I began to despair of finding one and was about to resort to pile-driving, when at last, to mv relief we struck solid rock on which the hupe foundation-stones could be laid with perfect safety. ^ Another great difficulty with which we had to contend was the absence of suitable stone in >^?^feSr^«5 IV THE BUILDING OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 45 the neighbourhood. It was not that there was none to be found, for the whole district abounds in rock, but that it was so intensely hard as to ' be almost impossible to work, and a bridge built of it would have been very costly. I spent many a weary day trudging through the thorny wilder- ness vamly searching for suitable material, and was begmning to think that we should be forced to use iron columns for the piers, when one day I stumbled quite by accident on the very thing Brock and I were out "pot-hunting," and hearing some gumea-fowl cackling among the bushes, I made a circuit half round them so that Brock on getting in his shot, should drive them over in my direction. I eventually got into position on the edge of a deep ravine and knelt on one knee, crouching down among the ferns. There I had scarcely time to load when over flew a bird which 1 missed badly; and I did not have another chan^.. for Brock had got to work, and being a first-rate shot had quickly bagged a brace. Meanwhile I felt the ground very hard under my knee, and on examination found that the bank of the ravine was formed of stone, which extended for some distance, and which was exactly the kind of material for which I had long been fruitlessly searching. I was greatly delighted with my unexpected discoverv, though at first I had grave misgivings about the distance to be traversed and the difficulty of transporting 4- 46 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. the stone across the intervening country. Indeed I found in the end that the only way of gettino the material to the place where it was wanted was by laying down a tram line right alon<> the ravine, throwing a temporary bridge across the Tsavo, following the stream down and re- crossmg it again close to the site of the per manent bridge. Accordingly, I set men to work ^1^^ at once to cut down the ^B^^^^^^ jungle and prepare a ^k^^^^^^^ to ^^^^^^^^^L the double trolley ^^^^^^^^ One morning when they I ^Ww were thus engaged, a Jl ^i ^'"^e paa — d, kind of " ^ '^ very small antelope- sprang out and found itself suddenly in the midst of a gang of coolies. 1 errified and confused by the shouting of the men, it ran straight at Shere Shah, the jemadar, who promptly dropped a basket over It and held it fast. I happened to arrive just in time to save the graceful little animal's life, and took It home to my camp, where it very soon became a great pet. Indeed, it grew so tame- that It would jump upon my table at meal times and eat from my hand. When the road for the trolley line was cleared, the next piece of work was the building of the ■ IT VERY SOON BECAME A GREAT PEL " IV THE BUILDING OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 47 two temporary bridcres over the river. These we made in the roughest fashion out of palm trees and logs felled at the crossing places, and had a flood come down thev would, of course have both been swept away ; fortunately, however this did not occur until the permanent work was '• HEERA SINGH MADE A WILD SPRING INTO THE WATER TO GET Cr.EAR OF THE FALLING STONE." completed. The whole of this feeding line was hnished in a very short time, and trollies were soon plying backwards and forwards with loads of stone and sand, as w^ also discovered the fitter in abundance and of good qualitv in the l^ed ot the ravine. An amusing incident occurred ¥9^m^^S3amssssam. i^^^aLS^gfjn:^ vs^^il.^-'i 48 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. one day when I was taking a photograph of an enormous block of" stone which was being hauled across one of these temporary bridges. As the trolley with its heavy load required very careful manipulation, my head mason, Heera Singh, stood on the top of the stone to direct operations,' while the overseer, Purshotam Hurjee. super- intended the gangs of men who hauled the ropes at either end in order to steady it up and down the inclines. But we did not know that the stream had succeeded in washing away the foundations of one of the log supports ; and as the weight of the trolley with the stone came on the undermined pier, the rails tilted up and over went the whole thing into the river, just as I snapped the picture. Heera Singh made a wild spring into the water to get clear of the falling stone, while Purshotam and the rest fled as if for their lives to the bank. It was altogether a most comical sight, and an extraordinary chance that at the very moment of the accident I should be taking a photograph of the operation. For- tunately, no one was injured in the slightest, and the stone was recovered undamaged with but little trouble. Not long after this occurrence my own labours were one day neariy brought to a sudden and unpleasant end. I was travelling along in an empty trolley which, pushed by two sturdy Pathans, was returning to the quarry for sand. IV THE BUILDING OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 49 Presently we came to the sharp indine which led to the log bridge over the river. Here it was the custom of the men. instead of running beside the trolley, to step on to it and to let its own momentum take it down the slope, moderating us speed when necessary by a brake in the shape of a pole, which one of them carried and by which the wheels could be locked. On this occasion however, the pole was by some accident dropped overboard, and down the hill we flew without brake of any kind. Near the bridge there was a sharp curve in the line, where I was afraid the trolley would jump the rails ; still, I thought It was better to stick to it than to risk leaping off. A moment afterwards I felt myself flying head first over the edge of the bridge, just missing by a hair s breadth a projecting beam ; but luckily 1 landed on a sand bank at the side of the river the heavy trolley falling c.ear of me with a dull unl TaJ'- •'^^" "^"^^"^' ^^'-' -- happily unattended by injury to anyone. CHAPTER V TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN It seemed fated that the building of the Tsavo Bridge should never be allowed to proceed in peace for any length of time. I have already described our troubles with the lions ; and no sooner did the beasts of prey appear to have deserted us, for the time being at any rate, than other troubles, no less serious, arose with the workmen themselves. After I had discovered the stone for the bridge, I sent down to the coast for gangs of masons to work and dress it. The men who were sent me for this purpose were mostly Pathans and were supposed to be expert workmen ; but I soon found that many of them had not the faintest notion of stone-cutting, and were simply ordinary coolies who had posed as masons in order to draw forty-five instead of twelve rupees a month. On discovering this fact, I immediately instituted a system of piece- work, and drew up a scale of pay which would enable the genuine mason to earn his forty-fi\e "Wn CH. V TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN 5, rupees a month— and a little more if he felt inclmed— and would cut down the impostors to about their proper pay as coolies. Now, as is often the case in this world, the impostors were greatly m the majority; and accordingly they attempted to intimidate the remainder into coming down to their own standard as regards output of work, in the hope of thereby inducing me to abandon the piece-work system of payment. This, however, I had no intention of doing as I knew that I had demanded only a perfectly lair amount of work from each man. These masons were continually having quarrels and fights amongst themselves, and I had frequently to go down to their camp to quell disturbances and to separate the Hindus from the Mohammedans. One particularly serious disturbance of this sort had a rather amusing sequel. I was sitting after dusk one evening at the door of my hut, when I heard a great commotion in the masons' camp, which ay only a few hundred yards away. ^rts^ni\y^ Jemadar c^mt rushing up to me to say that the men were all fighting and murdering each other with sticks and stones. I ran back with him at once and succeeded in restoring order but found seven badly injured men lying stretched I out on the ground. These I had carried up to my own doma on c/iarpoys (native beds) ; and l^rock being away, I had to play the doctor myself as best I could, stitching one and bandagincr ]•: 2 52 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. another and jrencrally doingr what was possible. There was one man, however, who groaned loudly and held a cloth over his face as if he were dying. On lifting this covering, I found him to be a certain mason called Karim Bux, who was well known to me as a prime mischief- maker among the men. 1 exam ned him carefully, but as I could discover nothing amiss, I concluded that he must have received some internal injury, and accordingly told him that I would send him to the hospital at Voi (aoout thirty miles down the line) to be attended to properly. He was then carried back to his camp, groaning grievously all the time. Scarcely had he been removed, when the head jemadar came and informed me that the man was not hurt at all, and that as a matter of fact he was the sole cause of the disturbance. He was now pretending to be badly injured, in order to escape the punishment which he knew he would receive if I discovered that he was the instigator of the trouble. On hearing this, I gave instructions that he was not to go to Voi in the special train with the others ; but I had not heard the last of him yet. About eleven o'clock that night I was called up and asked to go down to the masons' camp to see a man who was supposed to be dying. I at once pulled on my boots, got some brandy and ran down to the camp, where to my surprise and amusement I found that it was V TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN 53 my friend Karim Bux who was at death's door It was perfectly evident to me that he was onlv "foxing." but when he asked for dawa (medicine) I told him gravely that I would give him some very good dawa in the morning. Next day at noon—when it was my custom to have evil-doers brought up for judgment— I asked for Karim Bux, but was told that he was too ill to walk. I accordingly ordered him to be carried to my boma, and in a few moments he arrived in his charpoy, which was shouldered by four coolies who, I could see, knew quite well that he was only shamming. There were also a score or so of his friends hanging around, doubt- less waiting in the expectation of seeing the " Sahib " hoodwinked. When the bed was placed on the ground near me, I lifted the blanket with winch he had covered himself and thorouohly examined him, at the same time feeling him to make sure that he had no fever. He pretended to be desperately ill and again asked for dawa ; but having finally satisfied myself that it was as the jemadar had said-pure hidmas/n (devilment) -I told him that I was going to give him some ver^ effective dazua, and carefully covered him up ag;iin, pulling the blanket over his head. I then ^ot a big armful of shavings from a carpenter's bench which was close by. put them under the bed and set fire to them. As soon as the sham invalid felt the heat, he peeped over the edcre of . .iV#>^' l^bk^PT. ."S^Z^L. 54 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. I' 1(, the blanket ; aiul when he saw the smoke and flame leapinjj up round him, he threw the blanket from him, sprang' from the bed exclaimini,' " Bciman shaitan / (" Unbelieving devil ! "), and fled like a deer to the entrance of my boma, pursued by a Sikh sepoy, who got in a couple of good whacks on his shoulders ' •^h a stout stick before he effected his escape comrades greeted me with shoi Sahib. r' ("Well done, sir!"), any further trouble with Kar' back later in the day, with cla? ■ Iv forgiveness, which I readily ^iiiu.- clever workman. A few days after this incident I home one morning from a tree in which I had been keeping watch for the man-eaters during the prev JUS night. Coming unexpectedly on the quarry, I was amazed to find dead silence reigning and my rascals of workmen all stretched out in the shade under the trees taking it v-y easy- some sleeping, some playing c;n-ds. I watched their proceedings through the bushes for a little while, and then it occurred to me to give them a fright by firing my rifle over their heads. On the report being heard, the scene changed like magic : each man simply flew to his particular work, and hammers and chisels resounded merrily and energetically, where all had been silence a moment before. They thought, of course, that 1 1.^ amnsed ' 111'. i'-;|.'- i). "as . '..turnncf V TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN 55 was still some distance off and had not seen them, but to their consternation I shouted to them that they were too late, as I had been watchin^r them for some time. I fined every man present heavily, besides summarily degradin^r the Headman, who had thus shown himself utterly unfit for his position. I then proceeded to my hut, but had scarcely arrived there when two of the scoundrels tottered up after me, bent almost douh'e and calling Heaven to witness that I had shot them both in the back. In order to give a semblance of truth to an otherwise bald and unconvincing narrative, they had actually induced one of their fellow workmen to make a few holes like shot holes in their backs, and these were bleeding profusely. Unfortunately for them, however, I had been carrying a rifle and not a shot gun, and they had also forgotten to make correspondincr holes in their clothing, so that all they achieved by this elaborate tissue of falsehood was to b-* ig on themselves the derision of their comrades and the imposition of an extra fine. Shortly after this, when the masons realised that ' intended to make each man do a fair day's work i^r his money, and would allow nothing to prevent this intention from being carried out, they came to the conclusion that the best thing to do would be to put me quietly out of the way. Accordingly they held a meetin.cr one night, all bemg sworn to secrecy, and after a long palaver it 56 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. li: was arranged that I wa-^ to be murdered next day when I made my usual visit to the quarry. My body was to be thrown into the jungle, where of course it would soon be devoured by wild beasts, and then they were to say that I had been killed and eaten by a lion. To this cheerful proposal every man present at the meeting agreed, and affixed his finger-mark to a long strip of paper as a binding token. Within an hour after ihe meeting had dispersed, however, I was aroused by one of the conspirators, who had crept into my camp to give me warning. I thanked him for his information, but determined to go to the quarry in the morning all the same, as at this stage of affairs I really did not believe that they were capable of carrying out such a diabolical scheme, and was rather inclined to think that the informant had been sent merely to frighten me. Accordingly the next morning (September 6) I started off as usual along the trolley line t(.^ the lonely quarry. As I reached a bend in the line, my head mason. Heera Singh, a very good man, crept cautiously out of the bushes and warned me not to proceed. On my asking him the reason, he said that he dared not tell, but that he and twenty other masons were not goini; to work that day, as they were afraid of trouble at the quarry. At this I began to think that there was something in the story I had heard overnight, but I laughingly assured him there TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN 57 would be no trouble and continued on my way On my arrival at the quarry, everything seemed perfectly peaceful. All the men were working away busily, but after a moment or two I noticed stealthy side glances, and felt that there was somethmg in the wind. As soon as I came up to the first gang of workmen, the jemadar, a treacherous-looking villain, informed me that the men working further up the ravine had refused to obey his orders, and asked me if I would oq and see them. I felt at once that this was^'a device to lure me into the narrow part of the ravine, where, with gangs in front of me and behmd me, there would be no escape ; still I thought I would see the adventure through whatever came of it. so I accompanied \k^^ jemadar up the gully. When we got to the further crano- he went so far as to point out the two men^vho.' he said, had refused to do what he told them— I suppose he thought that as I was never to leave the place alive, it did not matter whom he complained of. I noted their names in my pocket-book in my usual manner, and turned to retrace my steps. Immediately a yell of rao-e v.as raised by the whole body of some sixty mtTn answered by a similar shout from those 'l had first passed, and who numbered about a hundred Both groups of men, carrying crowbars and Nourishing their heavy hammers, then closed in on me in the narrow part of the ravine. I stood i 1- HH 58 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. still, waiting for them to act, and one man rushed at me, seizincr both my wrists and shouting out that he was going- to " be hung and shot for me "- rather a curious Wcty of putting it, but that was his exact expression. I easily wrenched my arms free, and threw him from me ; but by this time I was closely hemmed in, and everywhere I looked I could see nothing but evil and murderous- looking faces. One burly brute, afraid to be the first to deal a blow, hurled the man next him at me ; and if he had succeeded in knocking me down, I am certain that I should never have got up again alive. As it was, however, I stepped quickly aside, and the man intended to knock me down was himself thrown violently against a rock, over which he fell heavily. This occasioned a moment's confusion, of which I quickly took advantage. I sprang on to tlv- top of the rock, and before they had time to recover themselves I had started haranguing them in Hindustani. The habit of obedience stdl held them, and fortunately they listened to what I had to say. I told them that I knew all about their plot to murder me, and that they could certainly do so if they wished ; but that if they did, many ol them would assuredly be hanged for it. as the 5/>/v?;' (Government) would soon ^m\ out the iruth and would disbelieve their storv that 1 had been carried off by a lion. I said that I knew quite well that it was only one or two scoundrels fc**--^S»5i^.. TROUBLES WITH THE WORKMEN 59 amoncr them who had inchiceci them to behave so .stupidly, and uroed them not to allow them- selves to be made fools of in this v/ay. Kven supposincd bullet from my -303 would penetrate tlie >n»n, and on making the experiment I was -lad t" frnd that a hole was made as clcanlv as Tf it ii-i(i Jx:en punched out. When the trap wa^ re.idy 1 pitched a tent oxer i i Id if ,i will H . fA If! ■JM 64 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. it in order further to deceive the lions, and built an exceedingly strong Soma round it. One small entrance was made at the back of the enclosure for the men, which they were to close on going in by pulling a bush after them ; and another entrance just in front of the door of the " WHEN THE TRAP WAS READY, I PITCHED A TENT OVER IT." cage was left open for the lions. The wiseacres to whom I showed my invention were generally of the opinion that the man-eaters would be too cunning to walk into my parlour ; but, as will be seen later, their predictions proved false. For the first few nights I baited the trap myself, but nothing happened except that I had a very slee])- ML '©(ftsm.^B VI THE REIGN OF TERROR 65 less and uncomfortable time, and was badly bitten by mosquitoes. As a matter of fact, it was some months before the lions attacked us again, though from time to time we heard of their depredations in other quarters. Not long after our night in the goods-wagon, two men were carried off from railhead, while another was taken from a place called Engomani, about ten miles away. Within a very short time, this latter place was agam visited by the brutes, two more men being seized, one of whom was killed and eaten, and the other so badly mauled that he died within a few days. As I have said, however, we at Isavo enjoyed complete immunity from attack and the coolies, believing that their dreaded foes had permanently deserted the district, resumed all their usual habits and occupations.' and life in the camps returned to its normal routine. At last we were suddenly startled out of this feeling of security. One dark night the familiar terror-sticken cries and screams awoke the camps, and we knew that the "demons" had returned and had commenced a new list of victims. On this occasion a number uf men had been sleeping outsule their tents for the sake of coolness, thinking, of course, that the lions had gone for Sood. when suddenly in the middle of the night one of the brutes was discovered forcing its way F >% im lilt ;i ■' i n ■! 66 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. throujjh the Soma, The alarm was at once j^nven. and sticks, stones and firebrands were hurled in the direction of the intruder. All was of no avail, however, for the lion burst into the midst of the terrified group, seized an unfortunate wretch amid the cries and shrieks of his com- panions, and dragjred him off through the thick thorn fence. He was joined outside by the second lion, and so daring had the two brutes become that they did not trouble to carry their victim any further away, but devoured him within thirty yards of the tent where he had been seized. Although several shots were fired in their direction by the jemadar of the gan_ir to which the coolie belonged, they took no notice of these and did not attempt to move until their horrible meal was finished. The few scattered fragments that remained of the boiiy I would not allow to be buried at once, hopiii*,^ that the lions would return to the spot tlie following night ; and on the chance of this I took up my station at nightfall in a convenient tree. Nothing occurred to break the monotony of my watch, however, except that I had a visit from a hyaena, and the next morning I learned that the lions had attacked another camp about two miles from Tsavo — for by this time the camps were again scattered, as I had works in progress all up and down the line. There the man-eaters had been successful in obtyinine VI THE RKIGN OF TERR<>R 67 a victim, whom, as in the previous instance they devoured quite close to the camp. How they forced their way throujrh the bomas without makmjr a noise was, and still is, a mystery to me • I should have thous-ht that it was next to im|)os- sible for an animal to jret through at all. Yet they continually did so, and without a sound being heard. After this occurrence. I sat up everv night for over a week near hkely camps, but all in vam. Either the lions saw me and then went elsewhere, or else I was unlucky, for thev took man after man from different places without ever once giving me a chance of a shot at them Ihis constant night watching was most dreary and fatiguing work, but I felt that it was a duty that had to be undertaken, as the men naturallv looked to me for protection. In the whole of my life I have never experienced anything more nerve-shaking than to hear the deep roars of these dreadful monsters growing gradually nearer and nearer, and to know that some one or other of us was doomed to be their victim before morning dawned. Once they reached the vicinity of the camps, the roars completely ceased, and we knew that they were stalking for their prey Shouts would then pass from camp to camp, K/iabar dar, dhajeon, shaitan at a'' (" Beware brothers, the devil is coming"), but the warnimr cries would prove of no avail, and sooner or later F 2 HE n ill • % MICROCOrY RfSOlUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 ^"^ ■ I.I U ■lUU 112 2.5 2.2 2£ 1.8 1.4 i 1.6 A APPLIED IIVMGE Inc 1653 Eosl Moin Street Rochester. Ne* York U609 USA (716) 482 -0300 - Phone (716) 288-5989 -Fox 68 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. ; 1 ,: i! ■ u . If 1^ \ ; E ' t '■' \ ^ 1 ' agonising shrieks would break the silence and another man would be missing from roll-call nf xt mornmg. I was naturally very disheartened at being foiled in this way night after night, and was soon at my wits' end to know what to do ; it seemed as if the lions were really "devils" after all and bore a charmed life. As I have said before, trackintr them through the juno-le was a hopeless task ; but as something had to be don. to keep up the men's spirits, I spent many a weary day crawling on my hands and knees through the dense undergrowth of the exasper- ating wilderness around us. As a matter of fact, if I had come up with the lions on any of these expeditions, it was much more likely that they would have added me to their list of victims than that I should have succeeded in killing either of them, as everything would have been in their favour. About this time, too, I had many helpers, and several officers — civil, naval and military — came to Tsavo from the coast and sat up night after night in order t< get a shot at our daring foes. All of us, however, met with the same lack of success, and the lions always seemed capable of avoiding the watchers, while succeeding at the same time in obtaining a victim. I have a very vivid recollection of one particular night when the brutes seized a man from VI THE REIGN OF TERROR 69 the railway station and brougiit him close to my camp to devour. I could plainly hear them crunching the bones, and the sound of their dreadful purring filled the air and rang in my ears for days afterwards. The terrible thing was to feel so helpless ; it was useless to attempt to go out, as of course the poor fellow was dead, and in addition it was so pitch dark as to make it impossible to .see anything. Some half a dozen workmen, who lived in a small enclosure close to mine, became so terrified on hearing the lions at their meal that they shouted and implored me to allow them to come inside my boma. This I willingly did, but soon afterwards I remembered that one man had been lying ill in their camp, and on making enquiry I found that they had callously left him behind alone. I immediately took some men with me to bring him to my boma, but on entering his tent I saw by the light of the lantern that the poor fellow was beyond need of safety. He had died of shock at being deserted by his companions. From this time matters gradually became worse and worse. Hitherto, "as a rule, only one of the man-eaters had made the attack and had done the foraging, while the other waited outside in the bush ; but now they becran to change their tactics, entering the bomas together and each seizing a victim. In this way two Swahili porters were killed during the last week ;•''.? \ : \ I' 70 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. of November, one hehvjr immediately carried off and devoured. The other was heard moaning for a loner time, and when his terrified companions at last summoned up sufficient couraj^^e to o-q to his assistance, they found him stuci< fast in the bushes of the doma, throucrh which for once the THEY FOUND HIM STUCK FAST IN THE BUSHES OF THE /io;;ia.'' lion had apparently been unable to drag him. He was still alive when I saw him next mornino. but so terribly mauled that he died before he couhl be Qot to the hospital. Within a few days of this the two brutes made a most ferocious attack on the largest camp in the section, which for safety's sake was-Iiuated within VI THE REIGN OF TERROR a stone's throw of Tsavo Station and close to a Permanent Way Inspector's iron hut. Sud- denly in the dead of nic.rht the two man-eaters burst in amonrr the terrified workmen, and even from my boma, some distance away, I could plainly hear the panic-stricken shriekin^r of the coolies. Then followed cries of " They've taken him ; they've taken him." as the brutes carried off their unfortunate victim and be^^an their horrible feast close beside the camp. The Inspector, Mr. Dal.u^airns, fired over fifty shots in the direction in which he heard the lions, but they were not to be frightened and calmly lay there until their meal was finished. After examining the spot in the morning, we at once set out to follow the brutes, Mr. Dalgairns feeling confident that he had wounded one of them, as there was a trail on the sand like that of the toes of a broken limb. After some careful stalking, we suddenly found ourselves in the vicinity of the lions, and were greeted with ominous growlings. Cautiously advancing and pushing the bushes aside, we saw in the gloom what we at first took to be a lion cub; closer inspection, however, showed it to be the remains of the unfortunate coolie, which the man-eaters had evidently abandoned at our approach. The legs, one arm and half the body had been eaten, and it was the stiff fingers of the other arm trailing along the sand which had left the marks we had taken to il if : M 31 i ! 1 1 1 ,MI i, m:; "t ' 1 ^'i' ] f . • ' ■ f !i m ^} \ \\ ■: t i I 1 ! 5 if CHAP. 5 72 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO be the trail of a wounded lion. By this time the beasts had retired far into the thick juncr],. where it was impossible to follow them, '\> we had the remains of the coolie buried and onct- more returned home disajipointed. Now the bravest men in the world, much less the ordinary Indian coolie, will not stand constant terrors of this sort indefinitely. The whole district was by this time thoroucxhly panic- stricken, and I was not at all surprised, there- fore, to find on my return to camp that same afternoon (December i) that the men had all struck work and were waiting to speak to me When I sent for them, they flocked to mv do?na in a body and stated that they would not 'remain at Tsavo any longer for anything or anybody ; they had come from India on an agreement 'to work for the Government, not to supply food for either lions or "devils." No sooner had they delivered this ultimatum than a regular stampede took place. Some hundreds of them stopped the first passing train by throwing themselves on the rails in front of the engine, and then swarming on to the trucks and throwing in their possessions anyhow, they fled from "the accursed spot. After this the railway works were completely stopped ; and for the next three weeks practically nothing was done but build "lion-proof" huts for those workmen who had had sufficient couraoe 'W^ww^^m^^m^- VI THE REIGN OF TERROR n to remain. It was a stran.fre and amusincr .sir even a do- in the busi,. they were, sure ,o 'maoinc it was a hon ; but I found out next dav that It was an actual fact, and that both stati..,i'- inastcrand siVnalman had been obli-ed to lake rcfunre from one of the man-eaters "bv lockin. themselves in the station buildino-. I waited some little time for'^IMr. Whiteheui but eventually, as he did not put in an appearance" I concluded that he must have post|)oned his journey until the next day. and so had mv dniner in my customary solitary state. Durin;-:^^ffi??«^®^?¥s;'. ^^^WiW^jm ?• I!- i hi i!i 80 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. peared into the darkness with his prey. It was' of course, this unfortunate man whom I had heard the lions devouring during the night. Whitehead AHDULLAH AND HIS TWO WIVES. hmiself had a marvellous escape ; his wounds were happily not very deep, and caused him little or no inconvenience afterv/ards. ii^ •iTyjaffi-i?:- ss*. Fii DISTRICT OFFICER'S NARROW ESCAPE 8i On the same day, December 3, the forces arrayed against the lions were further strength- ened. Mr. Farquhar, the Superintendent of Pohce. arrived from the coast with a score of sepoys to assist in hunting down the man-eaters whose fame had by this time spread far and wide, and the most elaborate precautions were taken, his men being posted on the most con- venient trees near every camp. Several other officials had also come up on leave to join in the chase, and each of these guarded a likely spot in the same way, Mr. Whitehead sharing my post inside the crib on the girder. Further in spite of some chaff, my lion trap was put in thorough working order, and two of the sepoys were installed as bait. Our preparations were quite complete by night- fall, and we all took up our appointed positions. Nothing happened until about nine o'clock, when to my great satisfaction the intense silliness was suddenly broken by the noise of the door of the trap clattering down. " At last," I thought "one at least of the brutes is done for." But the sequel was an ignominious one. The bait-sepoys had a lamp burning inside their part of the cage, and were each armed with a Martini rifle, with plenty of ammunition. They had also been given strict orders to shoot at once It a hon should enter the trap. Instead of doing so, However, they were so terrified when he rushed G . 41' I ;r ■ \l 1 ' 'I :'■ I Ri. I r-i N'i HI k J Sl- f- 1i ? 82 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. in and hecran to lash himself madly a^ijainst the bars of the cas^e, that they completely lost their heads and were actually too unnerved to fire. Not for some minutes— not, indeed, until Mr. Farquhar, whose post was close by, shouted at them and cheered them on — did they at all "ecover themselves. Then when at last they did begin to fire, they fired with a vengeance - anywhere, anyhow. Whitehead and I were at right angles to the direction in which they should have shot, and yet their bullets came whizzing all round us. Altogether they fired over a score of shots, and in the end succeeded only in blowing away one of the bars of the door, thus allowing our prize to make good his escape. How ihev failed to kill him several times over is, and always will be, a complete mystery to me, as they could have put the muzzles of their rifles absolutely touching his body. There was, indeed, some blood scattered about the trap, but it was small consolation to know that the brute, whose capture and death seemed so certain, had only been slightly wounded. Still we were not unduly dejected, and when morning came, a hunt was at once arranged, Accordingly we spent the greater part of the day on our hands and knees following the lions through the dense thickets of thorny jungle, but though we heard their growls from time to time, we never succeeded in actually coming up with them. .«^^iWi V.I DISTRICT OFFICER'S NARROW ESCAPE 83 Of the whole party, only Farquhar manaired to catch a momentary olimp.se of one as it bounded over a bush. Two days more were spent in the same manner, and with equal unsuccess ; and then Farquhar and his sepovs wen^ obli^jred to return to the coast. Mr. Whitehead also departed for his district, and once a.crain I was left alone with the man-eaters. A I'AKTY OK \VA JAMOUSl. li m *\ C 2 ^-v'rrX*?Si£,\ir»>t«5fe^^-^»^«S?gS?^«??9P CHAPTER VIII ^ i THE DEATH OF THE FIRST MAN-EATER A DAY or two after the departure of my allies as I was leaving my boma soon after dawn on December 9, I saw a Swahili running excitedly towards me, shouting out '' Simba! Simbai" ("Lion ! Lion ! "), and every now and again looking behind him as he ran. On questioning him \ found that the lions had tried to snatch a man from the camp by the river, but being foiled in this had seized and killed one of the donkeys, and were at that moment busy devouring it not far off. Now was my chance I rushed for the heavy rifle which Farquhar had kir V eft with me for use in case an opportunity such as this should arise, and, led by the Swahili. I started most carefully to stalk the lions, who, I devoutly hoped, were confining their attention strictly to their meal. I was getting on splendidly, and could just make out the outline of one of them through the dense bush, when unfortunat 84 itely I cH. viri DEATH OF THE FIRST MAN-EATER 85 I guide snapped a rotten branch. The wily beast heard the noise, growled his defiance, and disappeared in a moment into a patch of even thicker jungle close by. In desperation at the thougnt of his escaping me once again, I crept hurriedly back to the camp, summoned the available workmen and told them to bring all the tom- toms, tin cans and other noisy instruments of any kind that could be found. As quickly as possible I posted them in a half-circle round the thicket, and gave the head jemadar instructions to start a simultaneous beating of the tom-toms and cans as soon as he judged that I had had lime to get round to the other side. I then crept round by myself and soon found a good position and one which the lion was most ifkely to retreat past, as it was in the middle of a broad animal path leading straight from the place where he was concealed. I lay down behind a small ant hill, and waited expectantly. Very soon I heard a tremendous din being raised by the advancing line of coolies, and almost immediately, to my intense joy, out into the open path stepped a huge maneless lion. It was the first occasion during all these trying months upon which I had had a fair chance at -one of these brutes, and my satisfaction at the prospect of bagging him was unbounded. Slowly he advanced along the path, stopping every few seconds to look round. I was only «i ii "mmiy^^^.^i' '^'r,-^asm^^'vsmc8smk^'kmEMi^^bi fit I M U I fl 86 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. partially concealed from view, and if his attention had not been so fully occupied by the noise behind him, he must have observed me. As he was oblivious to my presence, however, I let him approach to within about fifteen yards of me, and then covered him with my rifle. The moment I moved to do this, he caught sight of me. and seemed much astonished at my sudden appearance, for he stuck his forefeet into the ground, threw himself back on his haunches and growled savagely. As I covered his brain with my rifle, 1 felt that at last I had him absolutely at my mercy, but ... . never trust an untried weapon ! 1 pulled the trigger, and to my horror heard the dull snap that tells of a misfire. Worse was to follow. I was so taken aback and disconcerted by this untoward accident that I entirely forgot to fire the left barrel, and lowered the rifle from my shoulder with the intention of reloading— if I should be given time. Fortunately for me. the lion was so distracted by the terrific din and uproar of the coolies behind him tSat instead of springing on me, as might have been expected, he bounded aside into the jungle again. By this time I had collected my wits, and just as he jumped I let him have the left barrel. An answering angry growl told me that he had been hit; but nevertheless he succeeded once more in getting clear away, for although I tracked him for some little distance, 1 viii DEATH OF THE FIRST MAN-EATER 87 tually 1( il rocky patch of eventi ground. Bitterly did I anathematise the hour in which I had relied on a borrowed weapon, and in my disappointment and vexation I abused owner, maker, and rifle with fine impartiality. On extracting the unexploded cartridge, I found that the needle had not struck home, the cap being only slightly dented ; so that the whole fault did indeed lie with the rifle, which I later returned to Farquhar with polite compliments. Seriously, however, my continued ill-luck was most exaspera- ting ; and the result was that the Indians were more than ever confirmed W their belief that the lions were really evil spirits, proof against mortal weapons. Certainly, they did seem to bear charmed lives. After this dismal failure there was, of course, nothing to do but to return to camp. Before doing so, however, I proceeded to view the dead donkey, which I found to have been only slighdy devoured at the quarters. It is a curious fact that lions always begin at the tail of their prey and eat upwards towards the head. As their meal had thus been interrupted evidendy at the very beginning, I felt pret':y sure that one or other of the brutes would return to the carcase at nightfall. Accordingly, as there was no tree of any kind close at hand, I had a staging erected some ten feet away from the body. This machan !| - T ( 1 ;| / ! !1 ,' i . I i ir i!! 88 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. was about twelve feet high and was composed of four poles stuck into the ground and inclined towards each other at the top. where a plank was lashed to serve as a seat. Further, as the nights were still pitch dark. I had the donkev's carcase secured by strong wires to a neighbouring stump, so that the lions might not be able to draa It away before I could get a shot at them. At sundown, therefore, I took up my position on my airy perch, and much to the disgust of niy gun-bearer, Mahina, I decided to go alone I would gladly have taken him with me, indeed, but he had a bad cough, and I was afraid lest he should make any involuntary noise or movement which might spoil all. Darkness fell almost immediately, and everything became extraordinarily still The silence of an African jungle on a dark night needs to be experienced to be realised • It IS most impressive, especially when one is absolutely alone and isolated from one's fellow- creatures, as I was then. The solitude and stillness, and the purpose of mv vigil, all had their effect on me, and from a condition of strained expectancy I gradually fell into a dreamy mood which harmonised well with my surroundings. Suddenly I was startled out of my reverie by the snapping of a twig : and. straining my ears tor a further sound, I fancied I could hear the !^"! "^ f ^ ^.^'§? ^"^^^ ^'^'■''^"•^ '^^ ^^y through man-eater." I thought to :^i^^:i^^fr^a» VIII DEATH OF THE FIRST MAN-EATER 89 myself; "surely to-night my luck will change and I shall bag one of the brutes." Profound silence again succeeded ; I sat on my eyrie like a statue, every nerve tense with excitement. Very soon, however, all doubt as to the presence of the lion was dispelled. A deep long-drawn sigh— sure sign of hunger— came up from the bushes, and the rustling commenced again as he cautiously advanced. In a moment or two a sudden stop, followed by an angry growl, told me that my presence had been noticed ; and I began to fear that disappointment awaited me once more. But no; matters quickly took an unexpected turn. The hunter became the hunted; and instead of either making off or coming for the bait prepared for him, the lion began stealthily to stalk me! For about two hours he horrified me by slowly creeping round and round my crazy structure, gradually edging his way nearer and nearer. Every moment I expected him to rush it ; and the staging had not been constructed with an eye to such a possibility. If one of the rather flimsy poles should break, or if the lion could spring the twelve feet which separated me from the ground ... the thought was scarcely a pleasant one. I began to feel distinctlv "creepy," and heartily repented my folly in having p.aced myself in such a dangerous position. I kept perfectly still, however, hardly daring even lsSPS&*^-#'''*^vti^^u-.. € it n it . i ii ir 90 THE MAN-EATERS OK TSAVO chap. to blink my eyes : but the lon.ir-ontinueil strain was tellino; on my nerves, and my feeiin^rs may be better imagined than described when about midnio-ht suddenly something came flop and striu l< me on the back of the head. Ivir a moment 1 was so terrified that I nearly fell off tht; plank, as I thought that the lion had sprung on me from behind. Regaining my senses in a second or two, I realised that I had been hit by nothing more formidable than an owl, which had doubtless mistaken me for the branch of a tree— not a very alarming thing to happen in ordinary circum- stances, I admit, but coming at the time it did, it almost paralysed me. The involuntary start which I could not help giving was immediately answered by a sinister growl from below. After this I again kept as still as I could, though absolutely trembling with excitement ; and in a short while I heard the lion begin to creep stealthily towards me. I could barely make out his form as he crouched among the whitish under- growth ; but I saw enough for my purpose, an.! before he could come any nearer, I took careful aim and pulled the trigger. The sound of the shot was at once followed by a most terrific roar, and then I could hear him leaping about in all directions. I was no longer able to see him, however, as h'"s first bound had taken him into the thick bush ; but to make assurance doublv sure, I kept blazing away in the direction in which if i ill- Mi-S.^-fy'^ . 'L'ii:^*'.'; vm DEATH f)K THK FIRST MAN-tATf R 9, I hoard him plun^^^in^' about. At len^^uh came a scries of mi;,'hty ^^roans. ^^radually subsiding* into deep sijrhs. and finally ceasin;/ alto^rethe/; and I felt convinced that one of the "devils" who had so lon^r harried us would trouble us no more. As soon as I ceased firinj^, a tumult of inquirin^^ voices was borne across the flark jun.L^le from the men in camp about a quarter of a mile away. I shouted back that I was safe and sound, and that one of the lions was dead : whereupon such a mighty cheer went up from al! the camps as must have astonished the denizens of the jungle for miles around. Shortly I saw scores of li^rhts twinkling through the bushes : every mar camp turned out, and with torn toms beating ai horns blowing came running to the scene. They surrounded my eyrie, and to my amazement prostrated themselves on the ground before me. saluting me with cries of - Madarak .' Madarak /" which I believe means " blessed one " or " saviour." All the same, I refused to allow anv search to be made that night for the bodv of the lion, in case HH companion might be close bv : besides, it was povsible that he might be still alive, and capable '-'f makmg a last spring. Accordinglv we all r-jurned in triumph to the camp, where great r-oicings were kept up for the remainde^r of '-•;- night, the Swahili and other African natives c-cbraiing the occasion by an especiallv wild ^.rd savage dance. tflti m 2S^^5m.^ss^jS[m'^wx^'^m3S'^sm3^mm^^r4i':i^'& lii i; i li J i IHi i ft 1 H ? h 1 U^ki 92 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. For my part, I anxiously jiwaited the dawn ; and even before it was thoroujrhly light I was on my way to the eventful spot, as I could not completely persuade myself that even yet the "devil" mi.irht not have eluded me in some uncanny and mysterious way. Happily my fears HIS LENGTH KROM Til' OK NOSE TO TIP OK TAIL WAS MNE keET EIGHT INCHES." proved groundless, and I was relieved to find that my luck-after phivinor me so many exasperatincr tricks— had really turned at last. I had scarcely traced the blood for more than a few paces when, on rounding a bush. I wa<^ startled to see a huge lion right in front of me, -«;-*.>v?;^ a^uf^j-ji > -rrf*"'-..-..'.". ■»!::•. viii DEATH OF THE FIRST MAN-EATER 93 seemingly alive and crouchinj^ for a sprintr. On lookinjT closer, however, I satisfied myself that he was really and truly stone-dead, where- upon my followers crowded round, lauj^hed and danced and shouted with joy like children, and bore me in triumph shoulder-hi^jh round the dead body. These thanksgivinir ceremonies being 'J I HKAD OF THE FIRST MAX-EATKR. over, I examined the body and found that two bullets had taken effect — one close behind the left shoulder, evidently penetrating the heart, and the other in the off hind leg. The prize was indeed one to be proud of; his length from tip of nose to tip of tail was nine feet eight inches, he stood three feet nine inches high, and it took eight men to carry him back to camp. The only blemish was that the skin was much scored by the m i lif )fl !S:«3»ISiUBSifi3!^^ _ ^ !!:' 94 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO ch. vm boma thorns through which he had so often forced his way in carrying off his victims. The news of the death of one of the notorious man-eatets soon spread far and wide over the country : telegrams of congratulation came pourina in, and scores of people flocked from up and down the railway to see the skin for themselves. :€ \ii CHAPTER IX THE DE\TII OF THE SECOND MAN-EATER It must not be imagined that with the death of this lion our troubles at Tsavo were at an end ; his companion was l'aW at large, and very soon began to make us unpleasantly aware of the fact. Only a few nights elapsed before he made an attempt to get at the Permanent Way Inspector, climbing up the steps of his bungalow and prowling round the verandah. The Inspector, hearing the noise and thinking it was a drunken coolie, shouted angrily "Go away!" but, fortunately tor him, did not attempt to come out or to open the door. Thus disappointed in his attempt to obtain a meal of human flesh, the lion seized a couple of the Inspector's goats and devoured them there and then. On hearing of this occurrence, I determined to sit up the next night near the Inspector's bungalow. Fortunately there was a vacant iron shanty close at hand, with a convenient loophole 95 ; a fit-' li i J ' i' II : IfH 96 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. in it for firing from ; and outside this I placed three full-grown goats as bait, tying them to a half-length of rail, weighing about 250 lbs. The night passed uneventfully until just before day- break, when at last the lion turned up, pounced on one of the goats and made off with it, at the same time dragging away the others, rail and all. I fired several shots in his direction, but it was pitch dark and quite impossible to see anything, so I only succeeded in hitting one of the goats. I often longed for a flash-light on si'ch occasions. _ Next morning I started off in pursuit and was jomed by some others from the camp. I found that the trail of the goats and rail was easily followed, and we soon came up, about a quarter of a mile away, to where the lion was still busy at his meal. He was concealed in some thick bush and growled angrily on hearing our approach • finally, as we got closer, he suddenly made a charge, rushing through the bushes at a great pace. In an instant, every man of the party scrambled hastily up the nearest tree, with the exception of one of my assistants, Mr. Winkler who stood steadily by me throughout. The brute, however, did not press his charge home : and on throwing stones into the bushes where we had last seen him, we guessed by the silence that he had slunk off We therefore advanced cautiously, and on getting up to the place ,x DEATH OF TH^. SECOND MAN-EATER 97 discovered that he had indeed escaped us, leaving two of the goats scarcely touched. Thinking that in all probability the lion would return as usual to finish his meal, I had a very strong scaffolding put up a few feet away from the dead goats, and took up my position on it before dark. On this occasion I brought my crun-bearer, Mahina, to take a turn at watching. .IS I was by this time worn out for v/ant of sleep,' having spent so many nights on the look-out. I was just dozing off comfortably when suddenly I felt my arm seized, and on looking up saw Mahina pointing in the direction of the goats. -S/ierf' ("Lion!") was all he whispered. I ^rasped my double smooth-bore, wh < I had charged with slug, and waited patiently. In'a few moments I was rewarded, for as I watched the spot where I expected the lion to appear, there was a rustling among the bushes and I saw him stealthily emerge into the open and pass almost directly beneath us. I fired both barrels practically together into his shoulder, and to my joy could see him go down under the force of the blow. Quickly I reached for the magazine rifle, but before I could use it, he was out of sight among the bushes, and I had to hre after him quite at random. Nevertheless I was confident of getting him in the morning, and accordingly set out as soon as it was iight. Fur over a mile there was no difficulty H ! it j 1- 'i \ if * 1 , ! \U I ■■II . [ llti 98 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. ill following the blood-trail, and as he had rested several times I felt sure that he had been badly wounded. In the end, however, my hunt proved fruitless, for after a time the traces of blood ceased and the surface of the ground became rocky, so that I was no longer able to follow the spoor. About this time Sir Guilford iMolesworth, K.C. I. E., late Consulting Engineer to the Governmenc of India for State Railways, passed through Tsavo on a tour of inspection on behalf of the Foreign Office. After examini--^ the bridge and other works and expressing his satisfaction, he took a number of photographs, one or two of which he has kindly allowed me to reproduce in this book. He thoroughly sympathised with us in all the trials we had endured from the man-eaters, and was delighted that one at least was dead. When he asked me if I expected to get the second lion soon. I well remember his half-doubting smile as I rather too confidently asserted that I hoped to bag him also in the course of a few days. As it happened, there was no sign of our enemy for about ten days after this, and we began to hope that he had died of his wounds in the bush. All the same we still took every precaution at night, and it was fortunate that we did so, as otherwise at least one more victim v/ould have been added to the list. For on the night of M IX DEATH OF THE SECOND MAN-EATER 99 December 27, I was suddenly aroused by terrified shouts from my trolley men, who slept in a tree close outside my boma, to the effect that a lion was trying to get at them. It would have been madness to have gone out, as the moon was hidden by dense clouds and it was absolutely impossible to see anything more than a yard in front of one; so all I could do was to fire off a few rounds just to frighten the brute away. This apparently had the desired effect, for the men were not further molested that night; but the man-eater had evidently prowled about for some time, for we found in the morning that he had gone right into every one of their tents, and round the tree was a regular ring of his footmarks. The following evening I took up my position 1- this same tree, in the hope that he would make another attempt. The night began badlv, as while climbing up to my perch I verv nearly put my hand on a venomous snake which was lymg coiled round one of the branches. As may be imagined, I came down again very quickly, but one of my men managed to despatch it with a long pole. Fortunately the night was clear and cloudless, and the moon made everv thing almost as bright as day. I kept watch until about 2 a.m when I roused Mahina to take his turn. For about an hour I slept peacefullv with niv back to the tree, and then woke suddenlV with an uncanny II 2 i'jiif;: ij 1^1 f1 if dm I' >: 1 i 14 1 } If - ? E C « i 100 IHE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. feelincr that somethincr was wrong. Mahina, however, was on the alert, and had seen nothing : and although I looked carefully round us on all sides. I too could discover nothing unusual. Only half satisfied, I was about to lie back again, when I fancied I saw something move a little way off among the low bushes. On gazing intently at >-3'f.> 'THE FOLLOWING EVENING I TOOK UP MY POSITION IN THIS SAME TREE." the spot for a few seconds, I found I was not mistaken. It was the man-eater, cautiously stalkinof us. The ground was fairly open round our tree, with only a small bush every here and thert- ; and from our position it was a most fascinating sight to watch this great brute stealing stealthily "WaWKKLr.^HMvf IX DEATH OF THE SECOND MAN-EATER loi round us, takino advantajre of cverv bit of cover as he came. His skill showed that he was an okl hand at the terrible .crame of man-huntin-r • so I determined to run no undue risk of losinc- him this tmie. I accordingly waited until he i>rang out and made a most determined charge down on us. I fired again and knocked him M ,nif'! r I 'lif ■!• I\ ■J.U. .UIU J '^ ill H,' U r; If If i ; ' 102 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. over ; but in a second he was up once more and comino: for me as fast as he could in his crippled condition A third shot had no apparent effect, so I put out my hand for the Martini, hoping to stop him with it. To my dismay, however, it was not there. The terror of the sudden charge had proved too much for Mahina. and both he and the carbine were by this time well on their way up a tree. In the circumstances there was nothint,' to do but follow suit, which I did without loss of time : and but for the fact that one of my shots had broken a hind leg, the brute would most certainly have had me. Even as it was, I had barely time to swing myself up out of his reach before he arrived at the foot of the tree. When the lion found he was too late, he started to limp back to the thicket ; but by this time I had seized the carbine from Mahina, and the first shot I fired from it seemed to o-ive him his quietus, for he fell over and lay motionless. Rather foolishly, I at once scrambled down from the tree and walked up towards him. To my surprise and no little alarm he jumped up and attempted another charge. This time, however, a Martini bullet in the chest and another in the head finished him for good and all ; he dropped in his tracks not v\\c yards away from me, and died gamely, biting savagely at a branch which 'jround. workmen in camp, attracted ^spjKsgigaaoggJilfeaaaagMwiggaiaciBap^^ IX DEATH OF THE SECOND MAN-EATER ,03 by the sound of the firin.ir, had arrived on the scene, and so .rreat was their resentment aoainst the Ijriite who had killed such numbers of their comrades that it was only with the t,rreatest •iifticulty that I could restrain them fronMearin- the dead body to pieces. Eventually, amid the wild rejoicino-s of the natives . >d coolies. I had he .on earned to my So;;.,, which was close at and On examination we fotmd no less than ■bullet holes n. the body, and embedded onlv < little way m the fiesh of the back was the slu,r '^'-h 1 had nred into him from the scaffoldini •!« ,f. j: inn io6 THE MAN-EATERS OF ISAVO chap. siastic sj)ortsman to jret rid of these lions our enterprise was seriously hindered. " Also, The Spectator of March \ 1900. had an article entitled "The Lions that Stopped the Railway," from which the following extracts are taken : — "The parallel to the story . the lions which stopped the rebuilding of Samaria must occur to everyone, and if the Samaritans had quarter as good cause for their fears as had the railway coolies their wish to propitiate the local deities IS easily understood. If the whole body of lion anecdote, from the days of the Assyrian Kini-s til. the last year of the nineteenth century, were collated and brought together, it would not equal in tragedy or atrocity, in savageness or in sheer insolent contempt for man, armed or unarmed, white or black, the story of the«=- two boRsts. . "To what a distance the whole story carries us back and how impossible it becomes to account for the suryn^al rf primitive man against this kind of foe! For fire-which has hirherto been regarded as his ain safeguard arainst the earn. yora these cared nothing. It is curious that the I savo lions were not killed bv poison lor strychnine is easily used, and with effect ^ i Olson may have been used early in the history of man, for its powers are employed wich stran-e ' I may mention that poison urns tried, but without effect n.e donk-ey ' '"'^ "'"'^ ^'^^^''^^ ^'^ '"^" ^« ^ead ^BM^m^m^fM^^:s^^ms^a^z^^ms.mKmsmKBmmsssmBs^sms% IX DEATH OF THE SECOND MAN-EATER 107 skill by the men in the tropical forest, both in American and We t Central Africa. Ikit there is no evidence that the old inhabitants of Kurope. (»rof Assyria or Asia Minor, ever killed lions or wolves by this means. They looked to the Kin^^ .)r chief, or some champion, to kill these monsters f.»r them. It was not the sport but the duty of Kin^rs, and was in itself a title to be a ruler of men. Theseus, who cleared the roads of beasts and robbers ; Hercules, the lion killer ; St. George, the dragon -slayer, and all the rest of their class owed to this their everlasting fame. From the story of the T.savo River we can appreciate their services to man even at this distance of time. When the jungle twinkled with hundreds of lamps, as the shout went on from camp to c imp that the first lion was dead, as the hurrying crowds fell prostrate in the midnight forest, laying their heads on his feet, and the Africans danced sa.age and ceremonial dances of thanksgiving. Mr. Patterson must have realised in no common way what it was to have been a hero and deliverer in the days when man was not yet undisputed lord of the creation, and might pass at any moment under the savage dominion of the beasts." Well had the two man-eaters earned all this fame: they had devoured between them no less than twenty-eight Indian coolies, in addition to scores of unfortunate African natives of wl . n 110 ufficial record was kept. f '. ;>iF.rf^i^;y^s?^?'> ii.f^'ii^*'':^^ -■ tm»>:^^^^ii^^-^^- Jt&m t^ ' I 4 1^ hk\ 5 i His; f $ sr l|r ■•is-. III! Ill, ' In - 1 J, \i^t%^ ^ ^ •* ^ THE BRIDGE OVER THE TSAVO RAPIDLY NEARED COMPlTtT^TnT'" CHAPTER X THE COMPLETION OF THE T..AVO BRIDGE When all the excitement had died down and there was no longer any dread of the man-eaters, work went on briskly, and the brid-e over the Tsavo rapidly neared completion As the piers and abutments progressed in heioht the question of how to lift the large stones Fnto their positions had to be solved We possessed no cranes for this purpose. I set to work and improvised a shears mad o^ a couple of •:^^mtt:W^m^^^^^M^iMtmmBS!^m^m^7¥ms^sia^^ •^Wi^-'^ir:--^. CH. X COMPLETION OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 109 thirty-foot rails. These were bolted together at the top. while the other ends were fixed at a distance of about ten feet apart in a laro-e block of wood. Ti;i,s contrivance acted capitallv. and by manipul t.:,.„ of ropes and pulleys the 'heavy stones were .wuno into position quickh and 'THE HEAVY STONES WERE SWUNG INTO .-OSITION Without difficulty, so that in a very short time .he masonry of the bridge was completed. 1 he next business was to span the six-v-foot distance between the piers with iron girders' \s ' had neither winches nor sufficient blocks and tackle to haul these over into position, I was C'nvcn to erect temporary piers in the middle of I ** 4,4 'ii. I- r ifii i 1 13' •%■■ J" • I 'it 1 i'l I'--'" Ii ;! 5'^ •I ■f.h\ : ^.1 ill no THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. each span, built up crib-shape of wooden sleepers. Great wooden beams were stretched across from the stone piers to these cribs, and laid with rails ; and the orjrder was run over its exact place, while still on the trucks in which it had been brought up from the coast. It was next hI :,. i- "THE GIRDER WAS RUN OVER ITS EXACT PLACE. *' jacked" up from the trucks, which were hauled away empty, the temporary bridge was dis- mantled, and the girder finally lowered gentlv into position. When the last girder was thus successfully placed, no time was lost in linking up the permanent way, and very soon I had the satisfaction of seeing the first train cross the finished work. i£-V« X COMPLETION OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE iii Curiously enoucrh, only a day or so after the bndg, had been completed and the intermediate cribs cleared away, a tremendous rain-storm broke over the country. The river started to rise rapidly, soon Hooding- its banks and becomin- '•AND FINALLY LOWERED CIEXTLY INTO POSITION a raging murky torrent, tearing- up trees by the roots^ and whirling them along like straws. Steadily higher and higher rose the flood, and standing on my bridge, I watchea expectantly ior the two temporary trolley bridges-which, it will be remembered, wc had built across th- n' m •Ht s:^smsmticmsm>(maBaMmaif!!aais^^mmt-f^^^ xae&n^^^ 112 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap stream in order to bring stone 1 sand to the main work — to give way befor liic ever-risinrr volume of water. Nor had I long to wait; for I soon caught sight of a solid mass of palm stems and railway sleepers sweeping with almost if f III *'VERY SOON I HAD THE SAl ISKACTION OK SEEING THE FIRST TRAIN CROSS THE FINISHED WORK." irresistible force round the bend of the river some little distance above the bridge. This I knew was the dSris of the trolley crossing furthest up the river. On it came, and with it an additional bank of stormy-looking water. 1 held my breath for the space of a moment as it actually leaped at the second frail structure; ther .■#^TS?:. m imASMSisitm^sslm^&ki^^s^ iii iiini i !■■ r^ss X COMPLETION OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 113 was a dull thud and a rending and riving of timbers, and then the flood rolled on towards me, leaving not a vestige of the two bridges behind it. The impact, indeed, was so great that the rails were twisted round the broken tree-trunks as if they had been so much orJinary wire. Thr t;;e completed tsavo bridge. double tier of wreckage now swept forward, and hurled itself with a sullen plunge against the cutwaters of my stone piers. The shock was great, but to my immense satisfaction the bridge took it without a tremor, and I saw the remnant oi the temporary crossings swirl through the I MH I ', !vl>£'^*^:^ ;!■•=?/';}&:• wmm ';) illii 'H THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. great spans and quickly disappear on its journey to the ocean. I confess that I witnessed the whole occurrence with a thrill of pride. We were never long without excitement of some kind or another at Tsavo. When the camp was not bemg attacked by man-eating lions, it was ONE OF THE TROLLEY LINES AFTER THK FLOOD. Visited by leopards, hyaenas, wild dogs, wild cats, and other inhabitants of the jungle around us. These animals did a great deal of damage to the herds of sheep and goats which were kept to supply the commissariat, and there was alwavs great rejoicing when a capture was made in one of the many traps that were laid for them. SP^I jaj^'i^W'i mw^M^.^m^yf^m^'^^imii'M^-^^^ifs^m'^ X COMPLETION OF THE TSAVO BRIDGE 115 Leopards especially are most destructive, often killing simply for pleasure and not for food : and I have always harboured animosity towards them since the night when one wantonly destroyed a whole herd of mine. I happened at the time to have a flock of about thirty sheep and goats which I kept for food and for milk, and which were secured at sundown in a grass hut at one corner of my boma. One particularly dark night we were startled by a tremendous commotion in this shed, but as this was before the man-eaters were killed, no one dared stir out to investigate the cause of the disturbance. I naturally thouo-ht that the intruder was one of the "demons," but all I could do was to fire several shots in the direction of the hut, hoping to frighten him away. In spite of these, however, it was some time before the noise died down and everything became still again. As soon as it was dawn I went to the shed to see what had happened, and there to my intense anger, I found e.ery one of my sheep and goats lying stretched dead on the ground with its throat bitten through. A hole had been made through the frail wall of the shed, and I saw from this and from the tracks all round that the author of the wholesale slaughter had been a leopard. He had not eaten o^'ne of the Hock, but had killed them all out of pure love of destruction. I hoped that he would return the next night I 2 ''iJfH ''^~:i-ri^,<-\'^-vSi^^-^'f^^^m)i^^-'i^ "6 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. to make a meal ; and should he do so. I determined to have my revenge. I accordingly left the carcases exactly as they lay. and having - very- powerful steel trap— like an enormous rat-trap and quite strong enough to hold a leopard if he should put his foot in it— I placed this in the openmg into the shed and secured it by a stout Cham to a long stake driven into the ground outside, Darkness found everyone in my boma on the alert and listening anxiously to hear the noise the leopard would make the moment he was caught in the trap. Nor were we disappointed, for about midnight we heard the click of the powerful spring, followed immediately bv frantic roaring and plunging. I had been sitting all evening with my rifle by my side and a lantern lighted, so I immediately rushed out, followed by the chankidar (watchman) carrying the lamp. As we approached the shed, the leopard made a frantic spring in our direction as far as the chain would allow him, and this so frightened the ckaukidar that he fled in terror, leav^ing me in utter darkness. The night was as black as had been the previors one, and I could see absolutely nothing; but I knew the general direction in which to fire and accordingly emptied my magazine at the beast. As far as I could make out, he kept dodging in and out through the broken wall of the goat-house ; but in a*" short time my shots evidently told, as his strugoles 7sr-fim^s'ss^mM ,.^W, C'iaf-'.^irr.^ "Uv- >V iBSSsae^;^ t- 120 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chai.. ar^' as a rule of splendid physique and vv. 11 qualified for the callinj^r that the majority of them follow, that of caravan porters. They an; a careless, light-hearted, improvident people, and are very fond of all the good things of this world, enjoying them thoroughly whenever they !?!S SWAM I I.I CARAVAN I'DRTERS. get the chance. Their life is spent in journeyin^r to and from the interior, carrying heavv loads .It- provisions and trade-goods on the one' journt )-. and returning with similar loads of ivory or other products of the coutilry. Tli .-y are aw;.v for many months at a time on these expeditioi-s. >»:'■, ^imi^k'.^^ XI SVVAHILI AND OIHKR N. IIVE TRIBES ;2i and onscfiiicinly— as they cannot speiul money on the march^they have a goodly number .if rupees to draw on their return to Mombasa. These Generally ih"sappear v\ ith wonderful rapiditv, and when no more fun can be bouuhl, they joiii another caravan and begin a new sti/(rn to th(.- TMK .,1,,, CARAVAN kOAI) WHICH CROSSED THE TSAVO AT A FORD.' Great Lakes, or even beyond. IVIany a Mme haxe I watched them trudoinir along the old caravan road which crossed the Tsavo at a ford about half a mile from the railway static '.n : here a halt was alwa\ s called, so that they mioht vva^h and bathe In the cool waters of the riven ii' ' * I lit J; . ;;! m I' .'I! ; ii f -11 1 ■ 122 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO ch. xi Nothinor ever seems to damp the spirits i){ .he Svvahili ;)orter. Be his life ever so hard, his 'SUCH WAS MY (OOK, MAKRI'KI." :?|7 |l| load ever so heavy, the moment it is off his bark and he has disposed of his />os/io (food), he straightway forirets all his troublef and beoin^ " IHK WOMEN WEAR A LO.NC, liR ICim.V COLOURED CI.OTH.' lii ' i 124 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. to laugh and sing and joke with his fellows as if he were the happiest and luckiest mortal alive Such was my cook, Mabruki, and his merry laucrh was quite infectious. I remember that one day he was opening a tin of biscuits for me, and not bemg able to pull off the under-lid with his fingers, he seized the flap in his magnificent teeth and tugged at it. I shouted to Hm to stop thmkmg that he might break a tooth ; but he misunderstood my solicitude and gravely assured me that he would not spoil the tin ! The Swahili men wear a long white cotton garment, like a night-shirt, called a ^an2?i; the women— who are too liberally endowed to be entirely graceful— go about with bare arms and shoulders, and wear a long brightly-coloured cloth which they wind tightly round their bosom-^ and then allow to fall to the feet. Ml are followers of the Prophet, and their social customs are consequently much the same as those of any other Mohammedan race, though with a good admixture of savagedom. They have a happv knack of giving a nickname to every European with whom they have to do, such nickname generally making reference to something peculiar or striking in his habits, temper, or appearance. On the whole, they are a kindly, generous folk. whom one cannot help liking. Of the many tribes which are to be seen about the railway on the way up from the coast, perhaps XI SWAHILI AND OTHER NATIVE TRIBES 125 the most extraordinary-looking are the Wa Nyika, the people who inhabit the thorny nyi)ka (wilder- ness) which borders on the Taru Desert. They are exceedingly ugly and of a low type. The men wear nothing in the way of dress but a scanty and '• IHE WOMEN ATTIRE THE.\ISEI.VES ONLY IN A SHORT Kll.r." very dirty cloth thrown over the shoulders, while the women attire themselves only in a short kilt vvhich is tied round them very low at the waist. Both men and women adorn themselves with brass chains round the neck and coils of copper and iron ■^iie round the arms. . I »evr»» rs^s^ivax, If- 11 I- 126 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. The nearest native inhabitants to Tsavo are the VVa Taita, who dwell in the mountains near N'dii. some thirty miles away. My work often took me to this place, and on one of my visits, finding myself with some spare time on my hands! I set out to pay a long promised visit to the WE ARRIVED AT M'gOGO's CAPITAL." District Officer. A fairly good road ran from N dii Station to his house at the foot of tb- mountains, about four miles away, and on mv arrival I was not only most hospitablv entertainc'l but was also introduced to M'gogo, the Head Chief of the VVa Taita, who had just come in for a s/iaun (consultation) about some affair of State. XI SWAHILI AND OTHKR NATIVE TRIBES 127 The old fellow appeared deli^rhted to meet me and promptly invited me to his kraal, some way' the Wa Ta.ta at home, so presently off we started on our heavy climb, my Indian servant. Bhawal, commg with us. After a couple of hours' • M.\KISG />om/>e I.\ THE HOI.I.oWKD-dU r STUMP OF A TRKE.' ■eacly scramble up a steep and slippery .oat- path, we arnved at M go.os capital, where Twas once nuroduced to his wives, whu were busily drink) „, the hollowed-out stump ,f a tree I presented o„e of then, with a„ uran^e for her i ! 1 ?<] ^^BWr? I Si I? 128 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. child, but she did not understand what it was, for on tasting it she made a wry face and would not eat it. Still she did not throw it away, but carefully put it into a bag with her other treasures —doubtless for future investigation. As soon as the women saw Bhawal, however, he became the centre of attraction, and I was eclipsed. He happened to have on a new puggaree, with lots of gold work on it, and this took their fancy immensely ; they examined every line most care- fully and went into ecstasies over it — ^just as their European sisters would have done over the latest Parisian creation. We made a short halt for rest and refreshment, and then started again on our journey to the top of the hills. After a stiff climb for another two hours, part of it through a thick black forest, we emerged on the summit, where I found I was well rewarded for my trouble by the magnificent views we obtained on all sides. The great Kilima Njaro stood out particularly well, and made a very effective background to the fine panorama. I was surprised to find a number of well-fed cattle on the mountain top, but I fancy M'gogo thought I was casting an evil spell over them when he saw me taking photographs of them as they grazed peacefully on the sweet grass which covered the plateau. Like most other natives of Africa, the Wa Taita arc exceedingly superstitious, and this failing is XI SWaHILI and other native tribes 129 turned to good account by the all-powerfu! " witch- doctor " or "medicine-man." It is, for instance an extraordinary sicrht to see the absolute faith with which a Ki Taita will blow the simba-dawa, or "hon medi- cine ", to the four points of the compass before lying down to sleep in the open. T\{\sdawa —which is, of course, obtain- able only from the witch-doctor —consists simply of a little black powder, usually carried in a tiny horn stuck through a slit in the ear ; but the Ki Taita firmly believes that a few grains of this dust blown round him from the palm of the hand >s a complete safeguard against ragincr lions seekmg whom they may devour ; and after the blowing ceremony he will lie down to sleep in perfect confidence, even in the midst of a man- W'A TAITA MKN. ! % ^^m*^t.is^iM •s'^'-'-^amfmrm. II 130 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. eater's district. In the nature of thincrs, more- over, he never loses this touchincr faith in the efficacy of the witch-doctor's charm ; for if he is attacked by a l-'on, the brute sees to it that he does not live to become an unbeliever, while if he is not attacked, it is of course quite clear that it is to the dawa that he owes his immunity. For the rest, the Wa Taita are essentially a pea' "-loving and industrious people ; and, indeed before the arrival of the British in the country, they hardly ever ventured down from their mountain fastnesses, owing to their dread of the warlike IVIasai. Each man has as many wives as he can afford to pay for in sheep or cattle ; he provides each spouse with a separate establishment, but the family huts are clustered together, and as a rule all live in perfect harmony. The most curious custom of the tribe is the filing of the front teeth into sharp points, which gives the whole face a most peculiar and rather diabolical expression. As usual, their ideas of costume are rather primitive ; the men sometimes wear a scrap of cloth round the loins, while the women content themselves with the same or with a short kilt. Both sexes adorn themselves with a oreat quantity of copper or iron wire coiled round 'their arms and legs, and smear their bodies all over with grease, the men adding red clay to tlic mixture. Many of the women also wear dozens oi rows of beads, while their ears are huno- wjiii '^-mm^ma 41 mm:^ XI SVVAHIU AND OTHER NATIVE TRIBES i^i !>ieces of chain and other fantastic ornaments 1 he men always carry bows and poisoned arrows' as we 1 as a seemie (a short, rou.<,rhIy-fashioned sword) hung on a leathern thong- round the waist A three-legged stool is also an important part ot their equipment, and is slung on the shoulder when on the march. The next people met with on the road to the Great Lakes are the Wa Kamba. who inhabit the Ukambani province, and may be seen from M'toto Andei to the Athi River. They are a very large tribe, but have little cohe- sion, being split up into many clans under chiefs who govern in a patriarchal kind of „.„.. T„ M KAMBA WOMAN. \vay. In appearance fi, laita, and they have the same custom "f himg the front teeth. As a rule, too, they are a P<«co-|ovmg people, though when driven to it bv l".".i;erthey will commit very cruel and treacherous K 2 m .",'< '.; 132 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO ch. xi acts of wholesale murder. While the railway was beina\v XII A NIGHT AFTER HIPPO H3 in front of me the form of a rhino or a lion ready to charge down upon us out of the shadow of the bush. In this manner, with nerves strun^r to the higliest pitch, we reached the edge of'^the river in safety, only to find that we were again baulked by a small rush-covered island, on the other side of which our quarry could be heard. There was a good breeze blowing directly from him, however so I thought the best thing to do was to attempt to get on to the island and to have a shot at him from there. Mahina, too, was eager for the fray, so we let ourselves quietly into the water, which here was quite shallow and reached only to our knees, and waded slowly across. On peering cautiously through the reeds at the corner of the island, I was surprised to find that I could see nothing of the hippo ; but I soon realised that I was looking too far ahead, for on lowering my eyes there he was, not twenty-five yards awa>* lying down in the shallow water, only half covered and practically facing us. His closeness to us made me rather anxious for our safety, more especially as just then he rose to his feet and gave forth the peculiar challenge or call which we had already heard so often during the night. All the same, as he raised his head, I fired at it. He whirled round, made a plunge forward sta-gered and fell, and then lay quite still. To make assurance doubly sure, I gave him a couple * t-^; wm^^ 144 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO ch. xh more bullets as he lay, but we found afterwartis that they were not needed, as my first shot had been a very lucky one and had penetratcti the brain. We left him where he fell and tjot back to our perch, glad and relieved to be in safety once more. As soon as it was daylight we were joined by my own men and by several Wa Kamba, who had been hunting in the neighbourhood. The natives cut out the tusks of the hippo, which were rather good ones, and feasted ravenously on the flesh, while I turned my attention with gratitude to the hot coffee and cakes which Mabruki had meanwhile prepared. t CHAPTER XIII A DAY ON THE NDUNGU ESCARPMENT Immediately after breakfast camp was struck and accompanied by a few of the Wa Kamba we started off for the N'dungu Escarpment-a frown- mg ndgc which runs for a great distance parallel to the Sabak., some three or four miles from us northern bank. We had not gone very far before I caught sight of a fine waterbuck and successfully bowled him over-a good omen for the day. which put us all in excellent spirits. Mabruk, cut off several strips of the tough meat and impaled them on a sharp stick to dry in the •SU.1 as he went along. I warned him that he had better be careful that a lion did not scent the meat, as .f it did it would be sure to follow up and knl him Of course I did not mean this seriously • but Mabruk, was a great glutton, and by no means courageous, so I wanted to fricrhten him As we trudged along towards the hill, ! heard i peculiar noise behind a small rising on our ricrht and on looking over the crest, l was delicrhted i^ f i «45 •/l lil II 146 THK MAN-KATFRS OK IS WO ch i-. to s( (' two Ijcuitiful i;ir;ilT(' iVcdiii'^j; |)cacft"iill\ a little (lisiaiuc .i\\a\- ami slrainiiv'' their htn-' ik ( '.> M ■! ii ^1 1 CALiair suaiT ok a kink waikkui ck and at ec ksskim i v IIOWI.KI) IlIM OVKK." to <;"el at the tops of some miinosa-like trees, while a vouni>' one was iwna tUiWii in the i-ias^ iimie :1( 1 close to me. ror some time 1 remamec d (ill- v.. .\ DAVON TMi: N'DL'NGl- KSCARI'MK craifil. u.UcliinL> tiu- 1 NT '47 iiitcrcht : they had fvidi-iiil nil L;r<'\\ii pair with l^ich 111'- ri\cr, ami u( to th >• jMst ((.M1C up troin hack on r<' slowly inakiii- their wav cir honu' on the escarpment. Thev seemc-tl th e most a rnct lonate term- '.'lUU llliU' then 'rreat h occ.isKtnallv MIL'' necks aiRl '>vn tly i t^ niti;ii4 t^nch other on shMnId m\ CO h; llect ive li kcd th to h, e s hoiiid ers. iMiuh as I i\ e added a ion of trophies, I left th •i^ I tiiink It <'i pity to shoot th I'lratle to em Lindi>tiirl)ed. ese nithfr V(T\ r.'.re ■'■"■ armless creatures, unle ss on 'I >|H,cial purpose. e is recjuired for L 2 \\\ a lit. m \i I m ■;;! 148 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CH/^P. We pushed on. accord inj^dy, towards the escarp- ment, for I was very impatient to ^et to the top and explore a place where I felt convinced no other white man had ever set foot. From the river the "ground rose gently upwards to the foot of the ridge, and was covered more or less densely with stunted trees and bushes, and of course the inevitable " wait-a-bit " thorns. I was fortunate enough, however, to find a rhino path which afforded a fairly comfortable and open road. on which we could walk upright ihe greater part of the way. The climb up the escarpment itself was a stiff one, and had to be negotiated principally on all-fours, but on the way up I dis- covered that there was an enormous cleft some miles to the right which would probably nave afforded an easier ascent. I had not time to explore it on this particular day, but I made a mental note to do so on some future occasion. After a two hours' journey from the river we sat panting on the summit after our scramble and surveyed the valley of the Tsavo, which lay spread out like a map about five hundred tcet below us. Our home tents, the bridge, Tsavo Station and other buildings were plainly visible. and the railway itself, like a shining snake, could be seen for many miles winding its way throni^h the parched wilderness. Having taken a tew photographs of the scene, we turned and si ruck through the N'dungu Plateau. Here I found " ■ fJy.iiife^^mimj'mi^si^ssL^ixsm xr.i A DAY ON THE N'DUNGU ESCARPMENT 149 the same kind of nyika as that round Tsavo tht* only ^ fferencc beinjr that there were more -reen trees .bout. The country, moreover, was some- what more open, and was intersected by hundreds 0/ broad and well-beaten animal pa'ths. alonjr which we could walk -M.rht in comfort. I was li !.'! 1,. 1 , . • >" '.rii.n clos-'- by Mahina and ■ ' ' walked upon the side of liJi been asleep. " e bounded off ' lil . — who doubt- i had given him ii{- i- jident appeared leading the way, fol' Mabruki, when sud a lion which wr. < the path and w; 1. It gave a fierc n ' through the bu^:. i . les:, recalled then ihn in fun earlier in the > SO alarmmg that he flung down his stick-load of meat and fled for his life, much to the amuse- ment of the others, even the usually silent Wa Kamba joming in the general laughter as they scrambled for the discarded meat. We saw nothmg more of the lie , though a few steps further on brought us to the remains of a 7ebra which ne had recendy killed and feasted on but after this Mabruki kept carefuli in the rear Curiously enough, only a short while later vve had an exactly similar adventure with a rhiim. as owing to the tortuous nature of the path, we walked right into it before we were ^vvare. Like the lion, however, ir was m->re in.^htened than we, and charged away from us through the jungle. 150 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO c.j vr. For about two hours we pursued our journcv into the plateau, and saw and heard a wonderful variety of game, including giraffe, rhino, bush- buck, the lesser kudu, zebra, wart-hog, baboons and monkeys, and any number o{ paa, the last being of a redder colour than those of the Tsavo valley. Of natives or of human habitations, however, we saw no signs, and indeed the whole region was so dry and waterless as to be quite uninhabitable. The animals that require water have to make a nighdy journey to and from the Sabaki, which accounts for the thousands of animal paths leading from the plateau to the river. By this time we were all beginning to feel very tired, and the bhistis stock of water was running low. I therefore climbed the highest tree I could find in order to have a good look round, but absolutely nothing could I see in any direction but the same flat thorny wilderness, interspersed here and there with a few green trees ; not a landmark of any sort or kind as far as the eye could reach ; a most hopeless, terrible place should one be lost in it, with certain death either by thirst or by savage beasts starin*,^ one in the face. Clearly, then, the only thini^r to do was to return to the river ; and in order to accomplish this before dark it was necessary that no time should be lost. But we had been windiiii,^ in and out so much through the animal paths that ki^J xni A 1.: VY ON THE N'DUNGU ESCARPMENT 151 it was no easy matter to say in which direction the Sabaki lay. First I consulted mv Wa Kamba followers as to the route back ; thev simply shook their heads. Then I asked Mahina, who pointed out a direction exactly opposite to that which I felt confident was the right one. Mabruki, of course, knew nothino-, but volunteered the helpful and cheering information that we were lost and would all be killed by lions. In these circumstances, I confirmed my own idea as to our way by comparing my watch and the sun and gave the order to start at once. For two solid hours, however, we trudged along in the fearful heat without striking a single familiar object or landmark. Mabruki murmured loudly • even Mahina expressed grave doubts as to whether the '< Sahib " had taken the right direction ; onlv the Wa Kamba stalked along in reassuring silence. For some time we had been followincr a broad white rhino path, and the great footmarks of one of these beasts were fresh and plainlv v^sible in the dust. He had been travelling in the opposite direction to us, and I feit sure that he must have been returning from drinking in the river. I accordingly insisted on our keeping to this path, and very soon, to my great relief we found that we were at the GLlre of the escarpment, a couple of miles awav'' from the place where we had made the ascent. Here a halt was called ; a sheet was spread over some of m 11 I ! III J m^sM^i^K^^^fWJ'dwtsiSifiii'-is^wKirwaaaii imimn iii * 4 I HI -!i ll 152 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. tiie stunted trees, and under its shade we rested for half an hour, had some food, cu.d drank the last of our water. After this we pushed on uith renewed vijrour, and arri\'ed at the Sabaki in good time before sundown, havin.-r bicrrred .1 couple of guinea-fowl and a />aa on the ""way to serve for dinner. After the long and fatiguin- day my bathe in a clear shady pool was a re^iJ delight, but 1 might not have enjoyed it (juitt so much if I had known then of the terrible fare which awaited one of my followers in the same river the next day. By the time I oot back to camp supper was ready and fiTlly appreciated. The tireless Mahina had als.', collected some dry grass for my bed, and I turned in at once, with my rifle handy, and slept the sleep of the just, regardless of all' the wild beasts in Africa. At dawn Mabruki roused me with a cup 01 steaming hot coffee and some biscuits, and a start was at once made on our return journev to Tsa\<). The place where we had struck the Sabaki ih • previous evening was some miles further dnwii the stream than I had e\er been before, so ! decided to take advantage of the Masai tri;! along its bank until the Tsavo River was reached I did not think we should meet with any turilv, r adventure on our way home, I)ut in the uil's the unex])ected is alwaxs happening. SIkti \ after we started one ol the \\a K.unba ue: i xm A DAY ON THE N'DUNGU ESCARPMENT is^ down to the river's ed-e to fill his calabash with water, when a crocodile suddenly rose u,, out of the stream, seized the poor fellow and in a moment had draoged him in. I was on ahead a the time and so did not witness the occurrence but on hearin.cr the cries of the others I ran bc-ck fa. is . . * m til A < Ko.oiui.i-. ON r\n: ^.\i;\ki. - 'luickly as p.,ssiW,..^-to„ iate, hosvcver, to see -V s,,n .,, either crocodil,, ,.r natlvo. Mahi„a l'!"l->|.l>.cally remark, ,1 that alter all it was „„K- 'I ..'"'''.•"-., ,sava,^.e), whose loss ,Ii,| not ,„,„h ;■>■'■. -Kl the other three \V.,Ka,ni,aeer,ainK- :; '";' ;'i'f'^-^"- "■ ^'- -ff'-'-i u- the i,u-i.i,.„t', "■' '"''"':•■ l'"--'--'.^"! the.nsehes of their dead I: % H.-J f ^ I m I ■ i( #11 154 THK MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CH. XIU companion"- bow and quiver of j^oisoned arrous. and of tlic stociv of meat which, he had left on the bank. I have since learned that eiccidents of this kind are of fairly frequent occurrence alono- the banks of these rivers. On one occasion whih- I was in the country a British officer had a very lucky escape. He was filling his water bottle at the river, when one of these brutes cautrht him by the hand and attempted to draw him in. Fortunately one of his servants rushed to his assistance and managed to pull him out of the crocodile's clutches with the loss only of two of his fingers. As we made our way up the Sabaki, we discovered a beautiful waterfall about a hundred and fifty feet high— not a sheer drop, but a series of cascades. At this time the river was in low water, and the falls consequendy did not look their best ; but in flood time they form a fine si^rht. and the thunder of the falling water can then be plainly heard at Tsavo, over seven miles aw.iy. when the wind is in the right direction. \Ve crossed the river on the rocks at the head of these falls, and after some hours' hard marching reached camp without further incident. CHAPTER XIV THE FINDING OF THE MAN-EATERs' DEN There were some rocky-looking hills lyin^ to the south-west of Tsavo which I was particularly anxious to explore, so on one occasion when work had been stopped for the day owing to lack of material. I set off for them, accompanied by Mahma and a Punjaubi coolie, who was so stout that he went by the name of Moota (^•^- "Fattie'). In the course of my little excursions round Tsavo I gradually discovered that I was nearly always able to make my wav to any required point of the compass by following" certain well-defined animal paths, which I mapped out bit by bit during my explorations. On this occasion, for instance, as soon as we had crossed he nver and had struck into the jungle, we were ortunate enough to find a rhino path leading in the nght direction, which greatly facilitated ^our progress As we were making our way along ■ - path through the dry bed of a nullah [ happened to notice that the sandy bottom sparkled '5i If ij.- I i Mini i 1 1 y if = ■ .ill is^l 156 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. here and there where the sunbeams penetrated the dense foh'age. This at once filled my head with thoughts of precious stones, and as the spot looked likely enough, I started to dig vigorously at the gravel with my hunting knife. After a feu minutes of this work, I came across what I at first took to be a magnificent diamond sparklincr in the damp sand : it was about half an inch long and its facets looked as if they had been cut by an Amsterdam expert. I tested the stone on my watch glass and found that it cut my mitials quite easily, and though I knew that quartz would do this as well, it did not seem to me to have either the general appearance or angles of any quartz I had ever seen. For a moment or two I was greatly delighted with my discovery, and began to have rosy dreams of a diamond mine; but I am sorry to say that on closer examination and testing I was forced to •he conclusion that my find was not a diamond, hough unlike any other mineral I had ever come across. My hopes of rapidly becoming a millionaire having thus been dashed to the ground, we proceeded on our way, getting further and further into the depths of a gIc>omy forest. A little- distance on, I noticed through a break in the trees a huge rhino standing in full view near the edge of a ravine. Unfortunately he caught siVtit of us as well, and before I could take aimrh-- XIV FINDING THE MAN-EATERS' DEN 157 snorted loudly and crashed off through the tangled undergrowth. As I followed up this ravine, walking stealthily along in the delightful shade of the overhanging palms, I observed on my left a little nullah which opened out of the main channel through a confused mass of jungle and creeper. Through this tangle there was a well- defined archway, doubtless made by the regular passage of rhino and hippo, so I decided to enter and explore what lay beyond. I had not gone very far when I came upon a big bay scooped out of the bank by the stream when in flood and carpeted with a deposit of fine, soft sand, in which were the indistinct tracks of numberless animals. In one corner of this bay, close under an overhanging tree, stood a little sandy hillock, and on looking over the top of this I saw on the other side a fearsome-looking cave which seemed to run back for a considerable distance under the rocky bank. Round the entrance and inside the cavern I was thunder- struck to find a number of human bones, with here and there a copper bangle such as the natives wear. Beyond all doubt, the man-eaters' den! In this manner, and quite by accident, I stumbled "pon the lair of these oiice-dreadcd "demons", wliich I had spent so many days searchinir for through the exasperating and interminable juncrjc during tint time when they terrorised Ivtvo. I had no inclination to explore the IS 11' '..m m'H iif •.t •A ■ '5« THE MAN-KATERS OF TSAVO cm a... .l^^Ioomy cK^pths of the inicrior, but thinkinir ti, ,t there nu^ht ,.-ossihly still be a lioness or cuh 'nside I hnd a shot or two into th(; cavern throi.crh a hole in the roof. Save for a swam, c,l bats, nothincr came out; and after takin.r a Phntncrraph of the cave, I gladly left the horrible •IlKVOM) All. DOtJHT, THK M AN-KA I Ek.-,' I)K\!" spot, thankful that the savage and insatiable brutes which once inhabited it were no lon^rer it ar'je Ketracnio- my steps to the main ravin. [ c.ntmued my journey alon- it. After a lit: . whiit- I tanci^d I saw a hippo among sum. i 1 rush.^s grow,; > on the bank, and (juickly sim XV UNSUCCESSFUL RHINO HUNTS 175 ribs and his right arm. Not content v/ith this It then stuck its horn through his thigh and tossed h.m over its back, repeating this operation once or twice. Finally, it lumbered off, leaving poor Eastwood helpless and fainting in the long grass where he had fallen. He was alone at the dme and ,t was not for some hours that he was found by his porters, who were only attracted to the spot by the numbers of vultures hovering about waiting in their ghoulish manner for life to be extinct before beginning their meal. How he managed to live for the eight days after this which elapsed before a doctor could be go to him I cannot imagine; but in the end he fortunately made a good recovery, the only sign of his terrible experience being the absence of his right arm, which had to be amputated ' I u if ( ji r- !« f] r ;) it 'I \^ !l I' fl. '■ fV, 1 1 Mi * CHAPTER XVI A widow's story Very shortly before I left Tsavo I went (on March ii, 1899) on inspection duty to Vol, which, as I have already mentioned, 'is about thirty miles on the Mombasa side of Tsavo. At this time it was a miserable, swampy spot, where fever, guinea-worm, and all kinds of horrible diseases were rampant ; but this state of affairs has now been completely altered by drainage and by clearing away the jungle. Dr. Rr^e w-as in medical charge of the place at the time of my visit, and as it was the good old custom to put up with any friend one came across towards nightfall, I made him my host when my day's unrk was over. We spent a very pleasant evening together, and noturally discussed all th^^ InCcil news. Amongst other things we chatted ab.ait the new road which was being constructed [mm Vol to a rather important missionarv station Ca;-! laveta. near^Mount Kilima Njaro.'a.id Dr. R ..e "" '" ' "" Oliara {the engineer m CH. XVI A WIDOW'S STORY ^17 charp of th. roacJ-makin^.), with his wife and cnildren. was encamped in the Wa Taita country about twelve miles away from Voi. Early next morning I went out for a scroll with my shot-gun. but had not gone far from the doctors tent when I saw in the distance four .^wahih carrymg something which looked like a stretcher along the newly-made road. Fearing that some accident had happened. I went quickly to meet them and called out to ask what they v.ere carrying They shouted back - Bwana^ r The master ; ; and when I asked what bwana, tney replied -Bwana O'Hara." On enquiring what exactly had happened, they told me that dunng the night their master had been killed by a .on. and that his wife and children were toilowmg behmd along the road. At this I directed the men to the hospital and told them wnere to find Dr. Rose, and without waiting to h':ar any further particulars hurried on as fast ^^ possible to give what assistance I could to :--or Mrs. O Hara. Some considerable way back :^et her toiling along with an infant in her -->. while a little child held on to her skirt ^ -^.-riy t.red out with the long- wal.k. I helped ••■:■ to finish the distance to the doctor's tent • -- ^yas so unstrung by her terrible nioht's ^>v-:r,ence and so exhausted by her trvini^ imrch - . ng the Daby ihaL she was scarcely able ■- ^r^^-ak. Dr. Rose at once lWC^ all he' could 'I tl '^ \ i\ .. ^;l i '%^mk 178 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CHAP. both for her and for the chil(h-st striking and solcn.n .ndi"- to a very terrible rra.i^edy of real life . 1 am .^lad to say that within a few ueeks' t.me the .on that was responsible for this tra.e ll -as killed by a poisoned arrow, shot from a tree top by one of the Wa Taita. t i 1'^ till "III : I ; J . 1 i'l IN- THE HAZAAR AT KAMPALA. \ I H II J ;. I 1 ijj 'I 111 li t'S "the great athi plains. CHAPTER XVII AN INFURIATED RHINO My work at Tsavo was finished in March, 1899, when I received instructions to proceed to railhead and take charge of a section of the work there. For many reasons I was sorry to say good-bye to Tsavo, where I had spent an eventful year ; but all the same I was very glad to be given this new post, as I knew that there would be a great deal of interesting work to be done and a constant change of camp and scene, as the line progressed onward to the interior. In good spirits, therefore, I set out for my new- headquarters on March 28. By this time rail- head had reached a place called Machakos Road, some two hundred and seventy-six miles from Mombasa and within a few miles of the great '"^ym:^- ms^>mm. CH. XVII AN INFURIATED RHINO 183 Athi Plains, the latter being treeless and waterless expanses, bare of everything except grass, which the great herds of game keep closely cropped. After leaving Tsavo, the character of the country remains unaltered for some considerable distance, the line continuing to run through the thorny nyika, and it is not until Makindu is reached— about two hundred miles from the coast— that a change is apparent. From this place, however, the journey lies through a fairly open and interest- ing tract of country, where game of all kinds abounds and can be seen grazing peacefully within a few hundred yards of the railway. On the way I was lucky enough to get some fine views of Kilima N jaro, the whole mountain from base to summit standing out clearly and grandly, with the lofty peak of Kibo topping the fleecy clouds with its snowy head. At Machakos Road I found the country and the climate very different from that to which I had grown accustomed at Tsavo. Here I could see for miles across stretches of beautiful, open downs, timbered here and there like an English park ; and it was a great relief to be able to overlook a wide tract of country and to feel that I was no longer hemmed in on all sides by the interminable and depressing thorny wilderness. As Machakos Road is some four thousand feet higher above the sea level than Tsavo. the differ- ence in temperature was also very marked, and h\\ 'if;' ■:if w\ n i i M WW ', I HI Hi m^'^^-m^^i^mmmsm^^ t m ill 'I ■ i , 1' m ^ ?■■'■ 1S4 TMi: MAN-KATKRS OF TSWo .:,. x^m th(.' air f(.'It tVcsh ar.d cool coniparc,! with (1,^ of ihe .siin-l)al«(I \allcy in wliidi I had spent the pn-vious year. My instructions \vcr(; to hurry on tho con- struction of the hnc as fast as possible to Xairohj. "KiKsr nil-: kaktii si-riaci-: mas to hi-; i'kki'akki)." the proposed headquarters of the Railw ly Administration, which lay about fifty miNs further on across the Athi Plains; and I s<. mi began to find platela\ing most interesting work. Everything has to move as if by clnckwoH<, First the earth surface has to be prepared an-i mmii^rM^f^if!^^r^^ v-i^Mm^^m M^W^^^^^^S^^. MW^^^iW. i86 THE MAN.EATERS OF TSAVO c, a... rcnckred perfectly smooth and Icvt;l ; cuttin-s have to be made and hollows banked up ; lunnHs have to be bored through hills and brld^rps thrown across rivers. Then a line of coolies moves alon-. placin.<,r sleepers at regular intervals; another gang drops the rails in their places ; vet another brmgs along the keys, fishplates, bolts and nuts • while following these are the men who actually fix the rails on the sleepers and link up from one to another. Finally, the packing gang finishes the work by filling in earth and ballast under and around the steel sleepers to give them the neces- sary grip and rigidity. Some days we were able lo lay only a few yards, while on other days we might do over a mile; all depended on the nature of the country we had to cover. On one .occasion we succeeded in breaking the record for a day's platelaying, and were gratified at receiving a telegram of congratulation from the Railway Committee at the Foreign Office. I made it my custom to take a walk each morning for some distance ahead of rails alon- the centre-line of the railway, in order to spy ou^ the land and to form a rough estimate of the material that would be required in the way ot sleepers, girders for temporary 1 -idges. etc' It was necessary to do this in order to avoid undue delay taking place owing to shortage of materi.il of any kind. About ten days after mv arrival iit Machakos Road I walked in this wav for five m- '^^'m-^^'i^^.^^m^^ xvrr AN INFURIATED RHINO iS- six miles ahead of the last-laid rail. It was rather unusual lor me to l;o so tar, atul, as it haj)|)<.'necl. I was alone on this occasion, Mahina havin-,^ been left behind in camp. About two •niles away on my left, I noticed a dark-look inir object, and thinking it was an ostrich I started off if? ANinilKK (lANC. DKdlS THK KAII.S IN IIIK.IK IM.ACKS.' towards it. Very soon, however, I found that it was b.gger game than an ostrich, and on getting still nearer made out the form of a great rhinoceros lying down. I continued to advance verv cautiously, wriggling through tho short grass until at length I got within fifty yards of where the if'! ^ li 'i? l! I ' ,t < - ■ ' ..■ i it iL ^j^^^^mmm i88 THE .MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. hu.cre beast was resting. Here I lay and watched him ; but after some little time he evidently suspected my presence, for rising to his feet he looked straight in my direction and then pro ceeded to walk round me in a half-circle The moment he got wind of me, he whipped round in his tracks like a cat and came for me in a bee-lme. Hoping to turn him, I fired instantly ■ but unfortunately my soft-nosed bullets merely annoyed him further, and had not the sh^htest effect on his thick hi e. On seeing this, I fluno- myself down quite flat on the grass and threw my helmet some ten feet away in the hope that he would perceive it and vent his rage on it instead of me. On he thundered, while I scarcely darcd to breathe. I could hear him snortinjr and rootmg up the grass quite close to me. but luckily for me he did not catch sight of me and charged by a lew yards to my left. As soon as i.e had passed me, my couraoe began to revive again, and I could not resist the temptation of sending a couple of bullets after h.m. These, however, simply cricked against his hide and splintered to pieces on it, sendin : ' ; ' !'ll CHAPTER XVIII LION'S Ox\ THE ATHI PLAINS SwoRTLV after I took charse at railhead we entered the Kapiti Plain, which gradually n,er."! into the Ath, Plain, and, indeed, is hard v tote d.s.,ngu,shed from the latter in the appearance or general character of the country. Together they I ™ '■' ^T- '''" °^ ~"'"S '^"^"^ ^°^ered with grass, and intersected here and there by dry ravme., along the baked banks of which a few stunted trees-the only ones to be seen^strug. to keep themselves alive. I„ .,11 this exofnse e ::; i„th°'ri^ .-- ^^^'^^^ '- ">^ ^^^ - xcept ,n he Ath. R.ver (some forty miles away p" s h„ ^'^T ['=""" °f "'<= undulating 'a ,e of " '"'"'■'="• " "'^ ^^-' ^'bundance of ,,an,e of almost every conceivable kind. Here ' '"P'^'f have seen lion, rhinoceros leopard -=^'"'1. g.rafire, zebra, wildebeeste, harteb" s e -i-ouck, wart-hog, Granti, Thomson!, im'pa a' '9-; k'l n n : :;:[ It H Hi jl '^v H '"( '1 } •' 1 ii:n 1 ii 1 ;• 1 ;■ '." -: ij '.i 'U . 1 1 it ilL 1 ill 194 THE MAN-EATERS OK TSAVO chai., besides ostriches, greater and lesser busiaicl. marabout, and a host of other animals and birtls too numerous to name ; while along the Athi and close to its banks may be found iarroken Swahili round the camp fire, and obtained some insight into many of the strange and u. % ^!i! ■il II H f If I I i I: u I9S THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO chap. ,i i barl)arous customs of the Masai, to which interesting tribe he belonged. In the morning I started off betimes, takin^r my "303 rifle and being accompanied by Mahina with the i2-bore shot-gun, and by another Indian carrying the necessary food and water. Our Masai guide, whose name we found to be Lungow, seemed to be quite certain of his way, and led us across the rolling plains more or less in the direction in which the railway was to run, l)ut some miles to the right of its centre-line. The march was full of interest, for on the way we passed within easy range of herds of wildebeeste, hartebeeste, gazelL*, and zebra. I was out strictly on business, however, and did not attempt a shot, reserving that pleasure for the homeward trip. Late in the forenoon we arrived at Lungow s pond — a circular dip about eighty yards in diameter, which without doubt had contained water very recently, but which, as I expected to find, was now quite dry. A considerable number of bones lay scattered round it, whether of " kills " or of animals which had died of thirst I could not say. Our guide appeared very much upset when he found the pond empty, and gave vent to many exclamations in his peculiar language, in which the letter " r " rolled like a kettledrum. Our search tor water having thus proves i a failure, I determined to try my luck with "he xviii LIONS ON VHE ATHI P frame. The Masai and the Ind hack to camp, while Mah '99 LAINS were sent ■ -" ^ ^'• """^ iticuiina and I made detour from the dried-u[) water-hole. Gar hi ahounded in all directions, but th me e animals were much more shy than they had been in the mornmg. and it was in vain that I stalked— if It can be called "stalking." when as a matter of tact one has to move in the open— splendid specimens of Thomson's and Grant's gazelle I might hi.ve attempted a shot once or twice. but the probability was that owing to the long range it would have resulted only in a wound, and I think there is nothing so painful as to see an ammal limping about in a crippled condition. In this fruitless manner we covered several miles, and I was beginning to think that we should have to return to camp without so much as firing a shot. Just then, however, I saw a herd'^of wildebeeste, and with much care managed to get within three hundred yards of them. I singled out the biggest head and waiting for a favourable moment, fired at him, dropping him at once. I ran up to the fallen beast, which appeared to be dying, and told Mahina to drive the hunting knife right through his heart so as to put him quickly out of all pain. As Mahina was not doing this as skilfully or as quickly as I thought it might be clone, and seemed unable to pierce the tough hide, i iianded him my rifle and took the knife in onler to do it myself. Just as I raised the knife ! If:; .»- 1 I iii I i i I 200 THE MAN-EATERS OF TSAVO CUM', to strike, I was startled l)y the wildL-bccstr suddenly jumpinjj^ to his feet, l-or a inonK nt he stood lookinjr at me in a dazed and t()tt